October 5, global James Bond amateur day!

Since 2012, October 5th has been global James Bond day.

The reason for this date to be chosen is that on October 5 1962 the first James Bond film Dr. No premiered in cinemas in the UK.

And the reason this was announced in 2012 is of course that the film series turned 50 years old that year. James Bond in book form was released much earlier, in 1953 to be exact.

But if you read this chances are high that you are a James Bond nut just like me. May I therefore suggest that you do what I will do.

I got the idea from Italian-American singer Dean Martin who had a reputation of being a heavy drinker. He said that he did not drink alcohol on New years eve because that was amateur night. He drank all the other days during the year.

I have always enjoyed that joke. He knew what people thought of him and he used it.

Therefore, in my world, today is global James Bond amateur day. Today James Bond is celebrated by the common James Bond fan. The fan who has never even read a Ian Fleming book. Rest of the year I intend to enjoy the greatest spy out there.

Happy global James Bond amateur day. Bond fans!

Below is the Ian Fleming, Dr No, Film release tie in version printed in 1963.

New Ian Fleming material to be published at Jonathan Cape

Today it was announced that a new James Bond novel will be released during 2018 and for the second time it will be penned by Anthony Horowitz.

The scoop was presented by The bookseller today over at their twitter account even if I gladly confess that I got the news from the always quick The Book Bond .

The publisher will once again be Jonathan Cape. The original publisher chosen by Ian Fleming for the release of his first book Casino Royale in 1953.
As a collector I am already starting to dream about the upcoming first edition being the same size as all Fleming first editions with a cover design that resembles the old Richard Chopping artworks. "Hope springs eternal".

According to Wikipedia  The James Bond books by Ian Fleming where Jonathan Cape's biggest sellers of all time. Jonathan Cape was bought by Random House UK in 1987. That same year the Bond books moves over to be published by Hodder &Stoughton.

The latest James Bond book to be released by Jonathan Cape was William Boyd's Solo in 2013 so it was not that long ago they did release a Bond book.


Richard Cable at Vintage (who seems to own Jonathan Cape today) said the following in a statement:

"We are delighted to welcome Anthony Horowitz and a new James Bond novel to Jonathan Cape, Ian Fleming’s publisher. Anthony’s first Bond novel, Trigger Mortis, was a great critical and commercial success, and we know that there are thousands of Bond fans who will be thrilled that Anthony has taken on the challenge once again."

As a sales manager I cant stop wondering what made Ian Fleming Publications chose different publishers so often lately. It must be just like the movie business that in the end you go with the one that pays the most upfront or are willing to spend a lot on marketing upon release.


So we will have to wait until spring 2018 before the next book The most reasent James Bond books have been released in September but just like Fleming's books this one will be released in the spring.



Once again it has been revelled that the upcoming novel will be a period Bond set in either the 50's or 60's and if that is not enough the book will also include material from another Ian Fleming story. I guess that just like Trigger Mortis this one will include material from the TV-series that Ian Fleming was hoping to sell and wrote short stories for. Here I hope for yet another Waterstones special edition with they actual Fleming script.



After reading Trigger Mortis I could not hope more for Horowitz to return for a new book and I was a bit surprised that this news was not released on August 12 (the day Fleming died in 1964) because everybody seemed to love his continuation novel so much that Ian Fleming Publications just couldn't let Horowitz off the hook. But I guess the negotiations was not ready or Horowitz had other obligations on his other books. His newest book Magpie Murders was released yesterday (October 3) so as soon as that was done they decided to spread the news I guess making sure that no bloggers beat them to it. 


A funny thing is that tomorrow is Global James Bond day. And they did not wait 24 hours to release the news tomorrow so maybe, just maybe, there will be some other James Bond news released tomorrow? Maybe from the other party over at Eon Productions.

Anthony Horowitz had the following statement to make about his return to 007:

"Writing Trigger Mortis was a pleasure and I was delighted by the positive response when it was published. And I was thrilled when the Ian Fleming estate asked me to come back. How could I refuse? I can't wait to return to the world of James Bond."

I believe I speak for many of us literary Bond fans when I say that

 we are delighted to see Anthony back onboard for a new James Bond novel. This time we know that the offer is placed in good hands and all we can do is wait. No pressure ;0) 

 

James Bonds face is "No more"

I can't say that I remember, back in the 50's and 60's, when the British Pan Book series had glorious covers where you could see Bonds face. The reason I cant remember this is that like most of you, I was not born yet.

I wrote a blog post a few months back saying that I believed that for some reason Ian Fleming Publications did not want to use James Bond's face on a cover. You can read that blog post here!
In that very same blog post I contacted the illustrator for the new US TRIGGER MORTIS paperback edition Patrick Léger but he turned down my suggestion of an interview. I was therefore very happy that Ian Fleming Publications made an interview with Patrick on their updated website under their banner "Agent in the field"

And in this interview I could not be more exited / sadend when I read the following comment from Patrick Legér:

"Not being able to show James Bonds face was an interesting challenge"

 So in other words the offer to do the cover was with limitations. The face was not to be seen.

As a huge James Bond fan and book collector I think this is a bit sad. I think that the reason we were so many who liked the cover for the US paperback was because it was retro and had a drawing with James Bond in it. I can't actually remember when that happened for the last time in theUK!

In the US it was with the release of DEVIL MAY CARE but there, once again, did the painting not show James Bond from the front but from the side with a shadow on his face.
I usually do not collect the US editions of the same book but for DEVIL MAY CARE and TRIGGER MORTIS (paperback) I did collect them just because of the great cover design. And will keep doing so if the covers are great


So in the future it looks like we should not hold our breath while waiting for 007 to show his face on a book cover again. No matter how much we would like it to be there. But we should be very happy that Patrick Léger atleast shared his version of Bonds face with us on the net.

 Patrick Léger own website!

How to take care of your paperback collection

There are many book collectors who have wast amount of paperbacks in their home.

But maybe it is not that common to take good care of your books so that no damage comes to the edges. With a polypropylen sleave your book will look fantastic for many years to come.

I therefore made my first video with my new camera to show you how I wrap my new US TRIGGER MORTIS in a protective sleeve to make it look brand new for a very long time.

Please note that this is my first video I present here and even if it is in 1080p and the music even matches the moment of the film I did not have the correct lightning and therefore I am not satisfied with the resolution. Especially with the closeup in the end.

The protective sleeve that I use is DEC-OPHAN 25 my Polypropylen (Cellofan) from Denmark. Its the same protective sleeve used on flower arrangements.

Below you can see my video uploaded on the blogs YouTube account. Sadly the video is being blocked by YouTube in Germany at the moment.

A total makeover for ianfleming.com

I received an email today from Ian Fleming Publications saying that this morning they released an updated version of their own website ianfleming.com

And when I opened the link on my cellphone at work I saw a new and updated version of the site that I wanted to explore after working hours.

But now that I am home I notice that the website is only updated on the mobile version and not when you use a regular computer. I have checked the link on both Explorer and Firefox and both versions looks like the website used to look.

Maybe they stumbled on some problems today going live, I dont know. UPDATE: You need to press F5 (refresh) to be sure that you see the latest version of the site.

New features on their site beside the updated design is:
- Full detailed Ian Fleming timeline
- James Bond page with brand new graphical slideshow
- Book profile page for all books including new graphic novels and audiobooks
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang dedicated page

In the email from Ian Fleming Publications it said that they would appreciate our help in spreading the new website amongst fans and that line got to me.

It is wrong to hit the hand that feeds you but I need to say a few words about this. The sad thing is that I have emailed Ian Fleming Publications a few times and most of the times they have not bother to answer my questions at all. I have heard that other bloggers have had the same problem.

And may I just say that this is so wrong and might be appropriate in the sixties but not in 2016. I spend ours every week promoting books about our beloved secret agent and my blog posts actually reaches thousands of fans nowadays.
Ian Fleming Publications and other publishers gets all of my time and the time of the blogs readers for free and even so, they don't bother to answer emails that can give them even more publicity.

Ian Fleming Publications says that they do not answer emails from people they do not have a business relationship with. But then they go and email me wishing the blog to highlight that an update has occurred on their website. I would love to make a blog post out of that but at the same time it makes me feel like a young kid that you can trick into  anything you want.

To be quite honest this is just wired and someone at Ian Fleming Publications should pay attention to this problem and have it sorted out. During daytime I work with sales towards cinemas in Sweden and I would never even dream about not supporting the cinemas with whatever they might be needing.

With that said I hope that I have not burnt all bridges now and that when I spend my free time to write a publisher an email, that they will answer. Together we can increase sales of James Bond books and I bring all my time for free to the table.


This blog is reaching 55 000 page views during it's first year.

I had lunch with Peter Burt

Some time ago I had a great opportunity to meet my new friend Peter Burt. Many of you recognize the name but if you dont he's the guy who runs the Facebook group James Bond : COLLECTING JAMES BOND TOYS and MEMORABILIA.

It all started when I got ill in 2014 and had to be home from work for seven months. It was the worst seven month of my life. Most days was horrible and some days were better. I suffered from panic attacks and could get as many as 60 a day. The first three months I stayed in bed. Totally isolated.

But slowly I got better and I decided to try and use the computer again and sell the James Bond collection I started in 1990. I only cared about the books and posters. The rest I could sell.
I found Peter's group on Facebook and made clear that the collection was for sale. I got so many PM's that I had to say stop right away and decide to sell the collection piece by piece.

This is how I came to know Peter and he was a great support during my recovery. Always nice, always polite. Hew was like a brother from another mother.

So in December last year we decided to meet. I flew to London and took the train to Royal Tunbridge Wells were Peter would meet me and we had a great day at Book shop I wanted to visit and then we sat and talked at a resturant for hours.

The friendship remains and when I went to London again I decided to take the train to his home town Deal and look at some of his collection and have lunch.

Peter had been very kind and was able to let me have some books sent to him instead of all the way to Sweden. The difference in postage per book is £10 so just by doing this it paid for the train ticket from London.

We had a lovely fish and chips and then we looked at the clock repair shop where he worked. He had hundreds of James Bond collectibles on display but also many collectables from horror films and the British music scene from the 70-80.

As a token of my appreciation of him being there for me during my recovery I gave him a first edition print of the Swedish Ian Fleming book ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. Below you can see the book cover and a great photo of two Bond fans who happened to meet over Facebook. The lives we live today with internet and social media is so far away from the loneliness we experienced back in the day before internet when many of us started collecting. We never felt the loneliness due to the interest in all things Bond. But for our parents it must have looked quite lonely.

I am giving away 10 copies of TRIGGER MORTIS

As you may have noticed there is currently a banner for the release of the US paperback of TRIGGER MORTIS on this blog. Therefore I wish to make it clear that I do not receive any money for that banner. Instead I have been offered 10 copies of the book to use for a competition here on the blog. In other words one can say that the readers and not me are the ones gaining on this advert.

And the task to be able to win is easy and will only take you less then a minute.

1. First of all. hit the LIKE button over at the blogs Facebook page.

2. Then comment with your favourite James Bond collectable (For example Corgi DB5) on this pagepost!

This will automaticity let you be on of the contenders for 10 copies of the US TRIGGER MORTIS paperbacks that I am giving away.

Please note: Usually there is not many people who take part in these kinds of contests and since I am giving away 10 copies of the book your chance to win is quite big.

The contest ends in seven days on September 20th.

Trigger Mortis released in glorius US paperback Today

Today saw the release of Anthony Horowitz fantastic James Bond novel in paperback in America.

I have earlier written a blog post about how the fantastic illustration by Patrick Leger evolved. I received my copy of the book today and I must say that the design is even better then I dared to hope it would be. The spine is fantastic and what looks to be yellow on the below picture is actually more neon green then yellow.

But there is something that I have never seen or actually felt before with this book. The thicker cover paper bare the feeling of sandpaper at a grit of approximately P1200. This is totally new to me. I also like that the pages of the book seems to be made of mixed paper.

TRIGER MORTIS is a fantastic James Bond novel. especially the chapter when the villain Jason Sin explains to James Bond why he does what he intend to do.

Collecting James Bond novels is mostly about collecting old books since the new ones do not have a great cover design. I mean who can forgive the artworks they used on the Raymond Benson books.

Also, in the UK, when Orion books released the paperback. They tried to broaden the target audience by making the cover speak more to women. Here on the US version they do not do that. They now what the book is and stays faithfully to that audience. This is exact what I would have done. Maybe it all debends on the UK hardback selling much better then the US. I do not know.

One thing is certain. It is a great novel, with a great cover and I would love for this to happen all over again with the same author in a year or two. A new author trying to write a Bond novel will be like Lazenby talking over after Sean. Anthony Horowitz placed the bar high with Trigger Mortis.

Lazenby signed an ULTRA RARE 007 poster

As many of you know I got the chance to meet George Lazenby in Oslo Norway the other day. And I have promised the blog readers to share my interview with him.
All this will come soon because I have over one hour of video footage to look at and try to make my first video out of so I beg of some patience.

Now this blogs soul purpose is to share knowledge and thoughts on the James Bond novels. But when an opportunity to meet Mr 007 himself arrives the rules don't apply.

But since it is Mr Lazenby's 77 birthday today I thought I would share a moment in Oslo with you when he signed my ultra rare movie poster for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.

The artwork of George and Diana was never used so this poster never actually made it to the printers. In all my years of James Bond collecting (many by now) I have never seen this artwork on anything except on the cover of 007 Magazine #27 that came out in 1994 and since then I have always wished to have this hanging on my wall.

I asked Mr Lazenby if he knew anything about the poster and why it was withdrawn but he said he had never even seen this artwork up until last week when I showed him.

Mr Lazenby asked me if I wanted him to sign "007" after his name but I wanted him to sign "The other fellow". The line in the film that we hard core fans love so much.

I received this poster from my two dear friends Thomas Nixdorf at "THE NIXDORF COLLECTION - James Bond Poster & Art Archive" that owned the artwork and this has then been recreated peace by peace by the wonderful Peter Lorenz at Illustrated 007

 

 

 

I read the early hardbacks of Ian Fleming

I am currently re-reading the Fleming novels and have so far read CASINO ROYALE and  LIVE AND LET DIE and I am now reading MOONRAKER.

But I believe that they way I am reading the books is a bit different from other James Bond collectors.
Early copies from the UK hardback editions is hard to come by and cost a fortune. Many collectors by them and put them in boxes and maybe look at them from time to time.

I am actually reading the oldest Cape editions I have in my collection. The MOONRAKER hardback I am reading right now is a 1955 second impression.

So why am I not reading a modern paperback. Well first of all I wish to be certain that the text in the novels are like Ian Fleming wrote them. I am not sure if this goes for his books but other authors sometimes gets modernised by the estate to make the story more readable for a younger audience.

Another reason for reading the older prints is that they are as close to the 50´s and 60´s that I will ever come and it is something special about going to bed with an early edition of MOONRAKER. You are holding in a book released before the big James Bond bonanza ever took place.

It feels genuine in some way. Like going back in time. Like the difference between watching Dr. No on your TV or at the cinema.

What printing of the James Bond books do you read? Do you dare to read any of your high valued books or are they put away safely. Please comment below. I would love to hear it.