5 replies to this topic

[Wade]

I make no apologies for being a "Monk"-like neat freak where my bookshelves are concerned. I want to display my Bond novels proudly, as the fine examples of publishing they are.

But I like them all to be of one type: hardcover. Paperbacks fall apart. They look cheap. An adult's bookcase has few paperbacks in it.

Of course, I'm being facetious. I'm no snob, but it'd be nice if IFP allowed some publisher somewhere to reprint the noveliations: "James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me," "James Bond and Moonraker," "Licence to Kill," "GoldenEye," "Tomorrow Never Dies," "The World Is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day."

I've got some of them, but it took years to find them. And the ones I don't have are incredibly overpriced on eBay and used books. Some copies of "James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" in hardcover are selling for thousands of dollars. It's insane.

Can anyone tell me why IFP doesn't do this?

[[dark]]

I'm guessing there wouldn't be much in it for them if they did.

Film novelisations are very "of the moment". After a film leaves cinemas, the novelisations really become second-hand bookstore fodder (which, to be honest, might be your best bet to track down these hardbacks - that's where I came across a hardback novelisation of The World is not Enough).

In any case, IFP have bigger fish to fry with the success of Higson's books and Devil May Care reaping the benefits of their decision to take the series back to Fleming's timeline and away from the even more successful film series.

[Wade]

[dark], I understand very well about how novelizations are "of the moment." But if there were no money in it, why do novelizations of TND and TSWLM sell so high? If, as some people say (quite wrongly and unfairly as well) that Benson's works weren't on the same plane as Gardner's, why is his TND selling that high? Why are IFP repackaging his novels? There's money in it, that's why.

Besides, I'd be willing to pay for a one-off hardcover if I could avoid the exorbitant prices booksellers are asking. It's obscene.

[MarkA]

[dark], I understand very well about how novelizations are "of the moment." But if there were no money in it, why do novelizations of TND and TSWLM sell so high? If, as some people say (quite wrongly and unfairly as well) that Benson's works weren't on the same plane as Gardner's, why is his TND selling that high? Why are IFP repackaging his novels? There's money in it, that's why.

Besides, I'd be willing to pay for a one-off hardcover if I could avoid the exorbitant prices booksellers are asking. It's obscene.

The reason they sell so high is they had very small print runs. The same reason later Gardner first editions sell higher than later Fleming's. But that doesn't mean there will be a substantial market for them if they are republished.

[FLEMINGFAN]

[dark], I understand very well about how novelizations are "of the moment." But if there were no money in it, why do novelizations of TND and TSWLM sell so high? If, as some people say (quite wrongly and unfairly as well) that Benson's works weren't on the same plane as Gardner's, why is his TND selling that high? Why are IFP repackaging his novels? There's money in it, that's why.

Besides, I'd be willing to pay for a one-off hardcover if I could avoid the exorbitant prices booksellers are asking. It's obscene.

You are quite right about the prices of those books being 'obscene', but it is the smallest of markets that pay those prices and, even then, it is only obsessed collectors and not mainstream buyers. The mainstream did not even buy them when they first came out and would NEVER touch them today, no matter what the price.

As you may know, what a collector cannot have makes it all the more desirable and things like small print runs and a 'you cannot have it' option drives them into some kind of feeding frenzy.

However, it would still never merit a reprint of those obscure titles from the publisher. That collector would buy the reprint, but not pay the extreme price for it.

It is best to pick up these things when they first come out or, if you just need it to fill in the bookcase but are not keen on it being the first edition, keep an eye on E-bay. Most of those title do pop up at very reasonable prices (a hardcover TOMORROW NEVER DIES just sold for US$30.07, ex-library) and even the ex-library ones can be tinkered with to make them look presentable on a bookshelf (most of the library copies have decent dustjackets that have been protected with Brodart covers, and that is most important for display). The same has applied for both of the Christopher Wood James Bond books, with JAMES BOND AND MOONRAKER being the lesser-priced of the two.

Hope that helps.

[BamesJond007]

But I like them all to be of one type: hardcover. Paperbacks fall apart. They look cheap. An adult's bookcase has few paperbacks in it.

i agree with this point about not having paperbacks... in my case though, i have just perfer to have both hard and soft covers, i have them for the Gardner's and half of the Benson's, but thats just my collecting style.