James Bond book news

Interesting article in Publishing News about Penguin's new James Bond imprint, Quantum of Solace and the new book by Sebastian Faulks:

PENGUIN IS PLANNING the next steps in it successful James Bond publishing programme, following the announcement of the name of the next Bond film, named after an Ian Fleming short story. The title, Quantum of Solace, which refers to the mathematical measurement of love, comes from the collection For Your Eyes Only and is the third story from it to lend its title to a Bond film.

Originally published by Cape in 1961, and in paperback by Pan in 1962, the collection was most recently published in 2006 by Penguin as part of its Bond list. While no details are confirmed yet, Penguin will be talking to the Ian Fleming Estate about plans to tie-in a book to the new film, due for release in November.

“The film was originally going to be called Risico, which is another short story in the same collection,” said Penguin Press Executive Editor Simon Winder, who bought the rights to Fleming's books when running Penguin Modern Classics. “They wanted to keep to a Fleming title - that was important for them. It's actually a very good story - yes, it has an odd-sounding title, but it won't sound odd when the film is a huge success.”

Penguin recently announced the launch of a dedicated imprint, Penguin 007, to publish all its Bond titles, including Devil May Care, the new Bond novel, written by Sebastian Faulks and published on 28 May.

The publisher, as part of its partnership with MySpace's UK operation, has launched a competition to find a 'theme tune' to introduce the audiobook of Devil May Care, released at the same time as the print edition on 28 May. A shortlist chosen by Faulks in conjunction with Matthew Fleming, Ian's great nephew; Dom Cook, Director of Marketing at MySpace UK; Jazzie B, musician and producer, and Alex Clarke, the book's editor. Users of the site will then vote for the winning track which will later be released as a digital download. The book will have its own MySpace page with news, videos and downloadable items, while its publication will coincide with new hardback editions of Fleming's novels to tie-in with celebrations marking the centenary of his birth.

The myspace site is here, where you can submit your track for consideration. The penguin 007 site currently just has the press release for the cover of Devil May Care.