Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-02-09
REST OF "BEsT SELLERS"
ARE BY ETHEL NJ. DELL
New Author Leaps Into Fame With
Her "Thc Way OF an
~ Eagle"
|IIyELN BIDDING roH WORKS
Light on tho IIittic-l,nown Person
a ality OF Authorcss WHO Has So
Quickly Become the Big Figure in
:.s british Novel World.
ny HAYDEN CHURCH.

j fEI.ONDON. Feb. S.--There are pub
Fishers and literary agents in London.
Sand perhaps some OF the former in the
EGnited States, too. who tear their hair
Eand rend their garments when the
Ha,&gic. name OF Ethel NJ. Dell is pro
EHpnpced in their hearing. Some few
sSears ago these publishers and liter
Gary middlemcn had in turn the chance
& &c, weIcominr Miss Dell into their re-
Il ssectire folds and keeping her there.
$9The calling thought now is that IL
@heT uh because She was then more o.
4 less of ncophytc and hadn't yet set
4 tied into her literary stride, they
y the publishers and aScnts-miSht now
HIsoyces instead OF IN Fords and adorn-
Eng their women<ind with diamond
4 sunbussts instead of something almost
Z as pretty in genuine paste.
& N For Ethel Vi. Dell, who is known
<o readers everywhere. whether they
Sare readers OF hers 60 not. as the
& author OF The Way OF an Eagle. The
s. Keeper of tho Door, The knarc OF
4 Diamonds and other romanccs that
4 have sold by the hundreds of thou
q sands, is the loudcst OF all noises IN
n tbe, London novel publishing world at
5 the present time. How big follow
n ing Miss Dell has among readers i'll
gthe United States 1 don't happen TO
Sknow. though one gathers that she IS
2country she has become a king, or
psrhaps one should say q queen pin
l Irl,ansalnost incredibly shor, time. No
sother British writer is so big an asset
SSto the, popular magazine that is luck
S'enough TO secure u serial OF even a
Sshort story from her prolific pen. and
Ito achieve this calls for stiff bidding
son the part OF The editor concerned
SERIAL RIGHTS BRING
l HER s5,O0D NOW
AS a result. the prices eSacted by the
sastute and fortunate literary agent
who now acts fo- her are mounting
steadily, I'm told authoritativcly that
! che British serial rights of a new.
lnovel Nfrom her pen nov command
sss,ooo.@which is perhaps more than any
3other British writer, with the possible
exception of Kip,ins and Conan Doyle
can ask aud obtain. This isn't. o.
from the American standpoint. but it
lis absolutely top for this country.
Miss Deil's short stories sell at cor
rates. Not long ago the
work has no, previously appeared.
thought a shoe: story of hers from her
Who ni heGetofore has has secured The The maya.
zine rights in most OF her stories heard
that this competitor had secured this
sbuy the tale back at double the price
5nErced upon. But the first editor
slSnew he had secured prize and refo-
ssap. MS the tall brows say.
mot YET THIRTY. HER
49, FAME Is WE'LL. KNOWN
~ What makes this authoresss aston
fishing success still moro striking is
Sthat 1T has been gained nj so carly an
,agc, for she is not Yet thirty, a woman
who Knows her we'll assures me. This
acquaintance describes Miss Dell as a
RHftt1e, dark woman, not pretty, but
EXTRAORDINARY? interesting in person.
T;ility." She has kept out OF the lime
Wight with a persistcncy rare in mem
ahers of her craft, and is the subject Of
sfewcr 4, personal "pars" than perhaps
5any writer OF equal popularity AS n
$Tesult, almost nothing Is known re-
Sgardins her The omniscient British
H.'Whos Who" does not even include her
dnamo, though one would not like TO
8say whether this ia due to the writer's
spart OF the renowned handbook itself
aCertainly Ethel NJ. does not write lite
Nrutnre, but as the best OF British best
Aseilers' the knowledge that this is so
5probably does not keep her awake o.
8near Sevenoaks and has no particular
'shobby apart from her work
4SONISTHING ABOUT WOMAN
SyS WHO WROTE '"rHE FLAME
s. 1.-TWO other youthful British author
&eSses who have made exceptionally
rEood both in their own country and in
Ssthe United States arc Miss l. :, r. Wv
Vile tthe | stands for dad, whose story
Iof the development of Hun, "'rOwarti
& Morning" has been so great a success
NoH both sides OF the Atlantic and Miss