86 replies to this topic

[K1Bond007]

Current sales rank on Amazon UK: #32

Current sales rank on Amazon US: #3,581

US #333
-- #2 in Action & Adventure (getting beat by an Oprah selection book)
-- #62 in Contemporary

UK #11
-- #1 in Popular Fiction (#2 just so happens to be Engleby)

It's improving. That's really not bad for the U.S. and I imagine it'll go up even more on May 28th.

[zencat]

That's more like it.

Looks like U.S. press is kicking in.

[Kilroy6644]

I got a call from my favorite bookstore today. The book I ordered is in (DMC, of course). I was very excited at the prospect of getting it a few days early, but just to make sure, I called back and asked if I could get it immediately, or if I had to wait until Wednesday. Mary checked, and unfortunately, the book is "street dated." I have to wait. Fortune has tickled my nether regions, and then left me high and dry.

[Righty007]

Now on the CBn main page...

Doubleday 'Devil May Care' Website Online

Plus a video featuring author Sebastian Faulks

The main Doubleday page has two absolute howlers at the moment - the title of the book and Fleming's name are both wrong!

Looks like my prediction is coming true. Doubleday is screwing up already. The Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writting as Ian Flemming!?

[Major Tallon]

Come on, Dubbeldey, let's get this right!

[TheSaint]

I was hoping for either a review or at the very least an advertisement in the Sunday NYTimes Book Review. Nothing.

[Righty007]

135: Amazon.com Sales Rank

#2 in Action & Adventure

#33 in Contemporary

[Mr. Blofeld]

I was hoping for either a review or at the very least an advertisement in the Sunday NYTimes Book Review. Nothing.

It got a mention in USA Today last week; that's got to be good.

[dinovelvet]

Now on the CBn main page...

Doubleday 'Devil May Care' Website Online

Plus a video featuring author Sebastian Faulks

The main Doubleday page has two absolute howlers at the moment - the title of the book and Fleming's name are both wrong!

Looks like my prediction is coming true. Doubleday is screwing up already. The Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writting as Ian Flemming!?

LOL, that's priceless. Especially when its right next to a picture of the book cover, which features the title and name spelled correctly!

[K1Bond007]

The main Doubleday page has two absolute howlers at the moment - the title of the book and Fleming's name are both wrong!

Looks like my prediction is coming true. Doubleday is screwing up already. The Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writting as Ian Flemming!?

How does that even have anything to do with your prediction? Which was about marketing and sales. I mean this is an unfortunate case, but the guy who writes their blog probably doesn't really know anything about the book. You couldn't even spell "writing" correctly and you have a spell checker installed in your browser. heh..

Seriously though #127 on Amazon last I checked. It's #36 at Barnes & Noble. That's not bad at all.

[Righty007]

The main Doubleday page has two absolute howlers at the moment - the title of the book and Fleming's name are both wrong!

Looks like my prediction is coming true. Doubleday is screwing up already. The Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writting as Ian Flemming!?

How does that even have anything to do with your prediction? Which was about marketing and sales. I mean this is an unfortunate case, but the guy who writes their blog probably doesn't really know anything about the book. You couldn't even spell "writing" correctly and you have a spell checker installed in your browser. heh..

Seriously though #127 on Amazon last I checked. It's #36 at Barnes & Noble. That's not bad at all.

It has a lot to do with my prediction. The blog is owned/operated by Doubleday and the blog entry was a form of advertising. Sure, it's probably just the fault of the writer but it still illustrates how Doubleday's efforts in marketing this novel are halfhearted.

Forgive me for misspelling "writing." It's a good thing I'm not employed by a publishing company.

[K1Bond007]

It has a lot to do with my prediction. The blog is owned/operated by Doubleday and the blog entry was a form of advertising. Sure, it's probably just the fault of the writer but it still illustrates how Doubleday's efforts in marketing this novel are halfhearted.

Forgive me for misspelling "writing." It's a good thing I'm not employed by a publishing company.

How much advertising does Doubleday need to do. #48 and climbing. Earlier today when I posted it was #127. Tomorrow it'll probably be in the top 10 or perhaps (fingers crossed) #1.

[Righty007]

18: Amazon.com Sales Rank

#1 in Action & Adventure

#2 in Contemporary

[ImTheMoneypenny]

Post your predictions on how bad Devil May Care will be marketed in the United States.

Here are some likely scenarios:

Entertainment Weekly and Time will be the only magazines to review the novel. Both reviews will be favorable but few readers will be able to find the review hidden inside the magazines.

In the nation's bookstores, employees will throw up between 2 to 20 copies of the book in an obscure location on the eve of it's May 28th. Ian Fleming's Bond novels will be nowhere in sight because of course selling the books near each other wouldn't make any sense.

Blossoming Bond fans will come in to purchase Devil May Care as well as a Fleming novel or two but will only find a copy of the Casino Royale tie-in and Doctor No on the self.

My local Waldenbooks only had six books that were still in the back storeroom! There was no display, no area cleared in the new arrivals section, nothing that said it was even coming out. They'd long since pulled all Fleming novels off the shelf to make way for a vast collection of Murder She Wrote paperbacks. I looked around and finally had to ask where the books were! The lady was like "Oh they're still in the back."! She disappeared for a good few minutes then brought the meager stack out with my reserved copy on top. It was very disheartening.

[spynovelfan]

How does that even have anything to do with your prediction? Which was about marketing and sales. I mean this is an unfortunate case, but the guy who writes their blog probably doesn't really know anything about the book.

But it's not their blog. It's the first item on Doubleday's homepage! And the fifth item. http://doubleday.com/ They've spelled Fleming's name wrong twice, and gotten the book's name wrong once. Imagine if Penguin had done that. And of course it's about marketing - if you're promoting a book that is timed for Fleming's centenary, mis-spelling Fleming's name is shockingly poor marketing.

[Johnboy007]

They had a big pile of them at the front of the aisle in Costco. I'll probably be at a Borders or a Barnes & Noble sometime later today so I'll report again when I get to one of those.

So far as press goes, the Philadelphia Inquirer has been running a lot of articles about the centenary over the last couple weeks including a huge front page article about Fleming today in the Magazine section.

[FlemingIanFleming]

Well, my local newspaper had an article on the book and Fleming yesterday, and my local B&N had copies of DMC on a display in the front of the store, along with several other Bond-related books (the FYEO nonfiction book and a Bond Encyclopedia.)

They also had all of the Fleming novels on the shelves.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

[Righty007]

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly contains a review of Devil May Care and they gave it a B. It's the one with Mad Men on the cover so check it out! It even has an illustrated picture of Bond in a tuxedo with a silencer surrounded by women.

[TheSaint]

No sign of DMC on the NYTimes best seller list. Maybe next Sunday.

[ACE]

Has any of the UK hype reached US shores?
Has this book got a bigger buzz then previous continuation novels (not difficult, I know)?
Are bookshops restocking with Fleming novels?
Are there Bond displays of DMC, Fleming and Young Bond together with DVDs?
Anyone got any pictures of Barnes and Noble standees?
Tell us how Bond is going Stateside.

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../b00bv63l.shtml

[Major Tallon]

In the days before release, I walked over to the downtown Borders in my good-sized Midwest city and looked around. Nothing.

On May 28, USA Today ran a quarter-page ad featuring Bond's return. The copy read something like: "The Action's Hot. The Martinis Are Cold. What The Devil Are You Waiting For?" I thought it was interesting that the Memorial Day sale flyer for the Army PX also had an ad for DMC.

I went back to Borders on May 28. They had a fairly prominently displayed table with 12-15 copies of the book. No signs, flyers, standees, or other publicity.

I'd been hoping for a bit more splash, but that was it.

[Johnboy007]

I've been to both a Borders and a Barnes and Noble since the release and didn't see anything. Not sure I even found a copy at Borders.

But definitely no re-stocking of Flemings or even later Bensons. Literary Bond is dead here.

[Righty007]

Looks like I was right! Doubleday let the United States down.

[Qwerty]

I've been to both a Borders and a Barnes and Noble since the release and didn't see anything. Not sure I even found a copy at Borders.

But definitely no re-stocking of Flemings or even later Bensons. Literary Bond is dead here.

Yikes. That's odd because I saw it prominently displayed at both a nearby B&N and Borders. You'd think they'd do that at all their stores.

Would doubt they'd ever go as far as to put the Fleming's or Young Bond on display though. Bond just doesn't have that same "kick" here that it does in the UK.

[[dark]]

Here in Canada, Devil May Care has been displayed prominently among the new releases, while the two Chapters stores I've been to have each had a whole table dedicated to Devil May Care and the Fleming hardback reprints.

Not too shabby.

[K1Bond007]

Looks like I was right! Doubleday let the United States down.

I think they met expectations for what a Bond novel can do in the US. Bond in literary form is not as popular here as may be in the UK. Could have done some better work perhaps, but consider everyone involved making the book was off promoting it in the UK, not to mention that in the US very few even know who Sabastian Faulks is.

It probably made the NY Times Bestsellers list and that's something that hasn't happened for a very long time. I don't think they could have done much better to be honest.

[MrDraco]

Just picked up Devil May Care...on Chapter-2 not bad but i'm sure i dont know the half of what i'm in for.

yeah mine was on the new release rack, no sign or anything.
I mean this is James Bond at hastings....

[Righty007]

Looks like I was right! Doubleday let the United States down.

I think they met expectations for what a Bond novel can do in the US. Bond in literary form is not as popular here as may be in the UK. Could have done some better work perhaps, but consider everyone involved making the book was off promoting it in the UK, not to mention that in the US very few even know who Sabastian Faulks is.

It probably made the NY Times Bestsellers list and that's something that hasn't happened for a very long time. I don't think they could have done much better to be honest.

Spending a little money on cardboard displays for bookstores and newspaper/magazine advertisements can go a long way. From what I've heard, there was none of that for Devil May Care in the US.

[K1Bond007]

Looks like I was right! Doubleday let the United States down.

I think they met expectations for what a Bond novel can do in the US. Bond in literary form is not as popular here as may be in the UK. Could have done some better work perhaps, but consider everyone involved making the book was off promoting it in the UK, not to mention that in the US very few even know who Sabastian Faulks is.

It probably made the NY Times Bestsellers list and that's something that hasn't happened for a very long time. I don't think they could have done much better to be honest.

Spending a little money on cardboard displays for bookstores and newspaper/magazine advertisements can go a long way. From what I've heard, there was none of that for <span class="book" id="booktag">Devil May Care</span> in the US.

Just because you make a cardboard display doesn't mean it'll be used and something like that is usually for paperback releases. I go into Barnes & Noble quite frequently and I don't usually see cardboard displays anyway. They have a few big tables and all the books are just stacked on it. That's pretty much how it goes. Sometimes they have a display stand (notably, 1 week prior to DMC For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond was on that stand), but I believe those books are chosen randomly by the staff. B&N actually did rather well with DMC. I don't really know what you're judging this failure on. Comparing it to the UK is unfair and it's going to probably make all the bestsellers lists. Can't really ask for more than that.

[TheSaint]

It probably made the NY Times Bestsellers list and that's something that hasn't happened for a very long time. I don't think they could have done much better to be honest.

As I mentioned above, it wasn't listed on last Sunday's list. Maybe this upcoming Sunday?