 The first English author was Muriel Spark, and the first Americans were Carson McCullers, Harold Brodkey and Patricia Highsmith, all virtually unknown in German-speaking countries.Rudolf Bettschart, Keel's childhood friend, became a business partner responsible for finances and marketing in 1966.In 2002, after 50 years, the company had 60 employees and was Europe's largest publisher of fiction, having published more than 3,400 books by 700 authors in more than 150 million copies.