[Techtaffy Newsdesk]
Amazon Publishing has acquired a ten-year license for North American rights to the entire list of James Bond books by Ian Fleming in print and ebook, working with Ian Fleming Publications. Along with the James Bond series, Mr. Fleming’s two works of non-fiction, consisting of a collection of travel writings called Thrilling Cities (1963) and an expose of the illegal precious stones trade entitled The Diamond Smugglers (1957), are also included in the agreement.
Jonny Geller, managing director at Curtis Brown, negotiated the agreement. All of the titles will be reissued by Amazon Publishing’s Thomas & Mercer imprint beginning in summer 2012.
The agreement for the 14 classic James Bond titles includes the first James Bond book in the series, Casino Royale (1953)–which will celebrate 60 years of publication in 2013–as well as Live and Let Die (1954); Moonraker (1955); Diamonds Are Forever (1956); From Russia with Love (1957); Dr. No (1958); Goldfinger (1959); For your Eyes Only (1960); Thunderball (1961); The Spy Who Loved Me (1962); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963); You Only Live Twice (1964); The Man With The Golden Gun (1965) and Octopussy and the Living Daylights (1966).
Since their first publication the books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Following Mr. Fleming’s death in 1964, Kingsley Amis wrote the next book in the Bond series, Colonel Sun, under the name of Robert Markham. Bond novels have since been written by John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, and Jeffery Deaver.
This agreement comes on the heels of the announcement last month by The Random House Group that the Bond backlist was returning to its publishing roots in the UK, with Vintage Books (sister imprint of Jonathan Cape, the original publisher of Casino Royale) acquiring a ten-year license for exclusive rights to the Bond novels in the English language with the exception of North America.
Amazon Publishing is the publishing arm of Amazon.com. Amazon Publishing’s West Coast Group includes imprints AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, and 47North. Amazon Publishing’s East Coast Group publishes adult trade, children’s and young adult titles.
[Image Courtesy: Ian Fleming Publications]