311 replies to this topic

[zencat]

Got anyone in mind Zencat?

No one specifically. But there is a lot of talent on these boards.

[Major Tallon]

It's a pleasure to have you here, Simon. Welcome to CBn!

[Jeff007]

Great thread, zencat and Simon welcome to CBn!

[Righty007]

Welcome to the CBn Forums, Simon!

[Qwerty]

I'll echo the above sentiments in saying it's great to have you here on CBn, Simon.

Now let's keep this Gardner Bond train rolling...

[David Schofield]

Where was the convention held? my Father's personal SAAB was white, the UK promo car I thought was silver. Yes he did like to 'hold court' so to speak. kept up with the cigarettes until his first heart attack and then quit straight after. I quit nine weeks ago and every day I still want one. Regarding the restriction thing, I honestly believe if he had been given just a little bit more freedom he may have continued longer and the quality of the later books might have been better. However his health did start to become an issue at times.

Be nice if some talented fan came up with some "30th Anniversary" cover art to help us envision these a little better (hint, hint).

Got anyone in mind Zencat?

The convention was at the Wembley Conference Centre, organised by what is now 007 Magazine, formerly the James Bond British Fan Club. Graham Rye, Ross Hendry and one or two others who may be behind user names on here.

Certainly the impression your father gave us that day was that he viewed the Bond books as a very positive challenge (there APPEARED to be no adverse, unnecessary pressure from Glidrose that he indicated) and that he was looking forward to working on them alongside his own output.

He seemed genuinely honoured to have been given the job, IIRC. One thing I do recall discussing with others though is that we expected the output to be less regular after the annual releases of the first two or three, to enable thorough preparation and your father a break with his other books. It would appear Glidrose were not prepared to let production slip, sadly, however, to ease the pressure and give room to breath.

[zencat]

I have the OO7 Magazine covering that event. So the Saab on hand that day, and on the cover of OO7, was JGs personal (white) Saab? Interesting. Always assumed it was the touring car. (Think that's an error in my Saab article.)

[David Schofield]

I have the OO7 Magazine covering that event. So the Saab on hand that day, and on the cover of OO7, was JGs personal (white) Saab? Interesting. Always assumed it was the touring car. (Think that's an error in my Saab article.)

Yes, it was white.

You will recall, that in LR no colour - oddly? - is given for the Saab; it is only at the start of FSS that it is refered to a "the SILVER Beast"....

Coincidence???

[DAN LIGHTER]

I hope Mr Gardner got his petrol bill back on expenses if he was using his own car for work.

Being realistic, what’s the plan from here on in then Chaps?

Bombard IFP with a vote counted poll from CBn? Does anyone have any direct contact with the serious hitters at IFP rather than just the Customer Service side of things? If the idea is pitched the right way then maybe vote counting doesn’t matter. Or perhaps that’s the idea anyway? Give them a good pitch with the 30th anni + With the suggestion of cover art concepts etc you get a good package together and take it to them.

[zencat]

Yes, it was white.

You will recall, that in LR no colour - oddly? - is given for the Saab; it is only at the start of FSS that it is refered to a "the SILVER Beast"....

Coincidence???

Yes, you're quite right about that. It doesn't have a color, nor the nickname, in LR. In fact, the first UK paperback shows it being black (the color of my own "Saab 007").

I hope Mr Gardner got his petrol bill back on expenses if he was using his own car for work.

Being realistic, what’s the plan from here on in then Chaps?

Bombard IFP with a vote counted poll from CBn? Does anyone have any direct contact with the serious hitters at IFP rather than just the Customer Service side of things? If the idea is pitched the right way then maybe vote counting doesn’t matter. Or perhaps that’s the idea anyway? Give them a good pitch with the 30th anni + With the suggestion of cover art concepts etc you get a good package together and take it to them.

Well, this thread is pretty much the pitch. That's why I encourage people to continue to show support via the poll, posts, and also offer up some good ideas or opinions on what kind of reprints they'd like to see. Trust me, there's an excellent chance the heavy hitters at IFP will see this. They do pay attention and care what fans say and think.

[DAN LIGHTER]

Sounds promising!

So we have to Twitter, Facebook and blog are butt's off to spread the word. I will inform my 47 Facebook friends although half of them are from here, so ummm errrr. Might have to think of somthing new.

People Power!

[zencat]

Ask your Facebook friends to become fans of the new official JG page (run by Simon).

http://www.facebook....15369659?ref=mf

Ultimately, I think offering up IFP ideas how to do these could be more effective than just shouting "reprints now!" But showing support in numbers is a good thing.

[DAN LIGHTER]

I will do. I will also post the link to this thread up on the Waterstone's facebook page etc

[zencat]

Oooo...that's a great idea. Didn't think about posting this to other fan pages (other than my own Bond ones).

[DAN LIGHTER]

I am thinking that genral readers of Fiction who enjoyed Devil May Care might want to learn about John Gardner and his Bond Books. Like I already said, I hadnt a clue until I looked here that there were other Bond Novels.

This looks like it's got you all excited Zencat. Either you are up early or you couldnt sleep.

Edited by DAN LIGHTER, 19 April 2010 - 12:29 PM.

[zencat]

You know, what do you think the chances are IFP already has something planned for the 30th Anniversary? Could we be spoiling it.

[[dark]]

Y'know, if nothing else, republishing the Gardners would be a good way to keep Bond in the public eye without having to commission another novel or reprint the Fleming books for the umpteenth time.

[Trident]

Ask your Facebook friends to become fans of the new official JG page (run by Simon).

http://www.facebook....15369659?ref=mf

Ultimately, I think offering up IFP ideas how to do these could be more effective than just shouting "reprints now!" But showing support in numbers is a good thing.

It's already been mentioned by David Schofield, but perhaps it's worth repeating his idea here:

Give each book some extra background material:
- the SAAB story
- the ASP story
- the reasons for sending Bond to the 80's and not 'period 60's'
- the reasons to age Bond
- Bond's training regimen (running, gymnasitcs, SAS-course, so on)
- the similarities between Gardner's reimagination and the EON films of that era
- the backstory for the most extraordinary plot of TMFB
- the Nick-and-Nora-meet-the-serial-killer of NSF
- alternative choices to the SAAB, LR's Browning/ROH'S ASP
- a look into Bond's sponge bag: soft spot for Dunhill toiletry???

and so on. A lot of it would have to be researched and newly written up. But I think with this kind of 'extra' there is a chance the fans and the ordinary readers will both pick them up (again), provided the original notes for the books can give information about these matters, possibly with photographic material.

A sideeffect would be that the respective articles could be transformed into a Gardner-James-Bond-Dossier, concentrating on John Gardner's specific take on the Bond world, for a possible later publication.

[DAN LIGHTER]

Ask your Facebook friends to become fans of the new official JG page (run by Simon).

http://www.facebook....15369659?ref=mf

Ultimately, I think offering up IFP ideas how to do these could be more effective than just shouting "reprints now!" But showing support in numbers is a good thing.

It's already been mentioned by David Schofield, but perhaps it's worth repeating his idea here:

Give each book some extra background material:
- the SAAB story
- the ASP story
- the reasons for sending Bond to the 80's and not 'period 60's'
- the reasons to age Bond
- Bond's training regimen (running, gymnasitcs, SAS-course, so on)
- the similarities between Gardner's reimagination and the EON films of that era
- the backstory for the most extraordinary plot of TMFB
- the Nick-and-Nora-meet-the-serial-killer of NSF
- alternative choices to the SAAB, LR's Browning/ROH'S ASP
- a look into Bond's sponge bag: soft spot for Dunhill toiletry???

and so on. A lot of it would have to be researched and newly written up. But I think with this kind of 'extra' there is a chance the fans and the ordinary readers will both pick them up (again), provided the original notes for the books can give information about these matters, possibly with photographic material.

A sideeffect would be that the respective articles could be transformed into a Gardner-James-Bond-Dossier, concentrating on John Gardner's specific take on the Bond world, for a possible later publication.

That's some brilliant ideas laid out there Trident/David. I would really like to read some of the background to John's Bond. Although isn’t the 80s one explained by John Gardner in the introduction to LR, or did I read it somewhere else?

(I said in an earlier post where I said that I am about to read “No Deals Mr. Bond” and that it was dedicated to Simon. I think it was in fact “Scorpius” with that dedication, apologies)

[David Schofield]

Detail of the kind listed by Trident from JG's work would be fascinating to see, to understand the "whys?" of his books.

Would such information be available via his personal papers to Simon, or is everything still ludicrously coveted by Glidrose/IFP as if they were guarding Top Secret information, rather than publishing books about a top secret agent?

[Trident]

Detail of the kind listed by Trident from JG's work would be fascinating to see, to understand the "whys?" of his books.

Would such information be available via his personal papers to Simon, or is everything still ludicrously coveted by Glidrose/IFP as if they were guarding Top Secret information, rather than publishing books about a top secret agent?

Well, it would have to be both sides that would have to be on board with this. But I really think this kind of background could add considerably to the reading experience and might be able to conciliate even sceptics with the series, give an idea about considerations and limitations of the Gardner years. Invaluable information for fans and casual readers alike, particularly if it was possible to tailor the articles to the novels, highlight with each one one or several specific details form the book.

[zencat]

Sensational ideas, guys.

[Righty007]

Ask your Facebook friends to become fans of the new official JG page (run by Simon).

http://www.facebook....15369659?ref=mf

Ultimately, I think offering up IFP ideas how to do these could be more effective than just shouting "reprints now!" But showing support in numbers is a good thing.

In my opinion, we need both. We could send IFP the greatest ideas in the world but without a substantial number of people behind these proposed reprints, there's no incentive (financial or otherwise) for them to do anything.

Look at the Young Bond novels. They're a success in the United Kingdom because IFP were able to capitalize on the Harry Potter/Alex Rider market with an established (JAMES BOND) yet untapped brand, YOUNG James Bond.

Look at Devil May Care. It was a success in the United Kingdom because it had an existing market (fans of Ian Fleming's popular 007 novels) and capitalized on two names, IAN FLEMING and JAMES BOND 007. Sebastian Faulks wrote a mediocre entry (according to many Bond fans and regular reviewers) into the Bond canon but the cover said SEBASTIAN FAULKS WRITING AS IAN FLEMING, which most likely helped increase its sales.

Look at the Moneypenny Diaries. There was no market for these books and they were a failure (at least when compared to the sales of Young Bond and Devil May Care). That's why they didn't even bother releasing the second two entries in the United States. Many hardcore Bond fans avoided this series because it didn't focus on JAMES BOND 007 so how the hell was it supposed to attract casual Bond fans and non-Bond fan readers?

Now look at the John Gardner novels. Unlike the successful Young Bond and Devil May Care, these aren't new products; they were all published 15-30 years ago. But they do feature IAN FLEMING's JAMES BOND 007, which has an established fan base and market. Plus, there is a new generation of Bond fans that have probably never even heard of John Gardner. I'm talking about people between the ages of 15-20 years old. Who are these people? Well, some of them are former Young Bond fans (remember that SilverFin came out 5 years ago) and I would bet that they would be interested in reading about a more adult 007 in the Gardner novels. There are also readers in this age range that simply enjoy reading spy thrillers, whether it be James Bond, Jason Bourne, etc. Therefore with a little marketing, there is some money to be made in Gardner reprints.

Where do we stand? There's a potential market for Gardner reprints and IFP seems inactive on the matter (Licence Renewed, for instance, has been out of print for 25+ years). Pitching ideas regarding the possible ways in which these reprints could be handled in the CommanderBond.net Forums is a great idea. We know for a fact that important people have been known to lurk. But if we don't actively push IFP to look into the idea of reprinting these novels then it's never going to happen regardless of how many "awesome" ideas we post on here.

Reprint John Gardner's 007 Now, for example, is a little more sophisticated than simply shouting "reprints now!" If I worked at IFP and I saw A LOT of votes in the above poll in addition to perhaps 500-1000 followers on the @GardnerRenewed Twitter account, I might start seriously considering the idea of reprinting some of Gardner's novels to test the waters. These are lofty goals but if we were to ever achieve them, it would have been well worth the effort, right?

Anybody remember Crystal Pepsi? Probably not, because nobody drank/supported the damn thing.

[zencat]

Good points, Righty. We do need both. And Twitter is great place to assemble and show numbers. Go man go!

[jwheels]

I'm here to show my support. I would love if they reprinted the Gardner books. My copies are mismatched and I would love to have uniform covers for all of them. I would like to match the Fleming's 60's covers, only updated for the 80's. Also, some of my Gardner's are so worn out, I'm afraid to they'll fall apart if I tried to read them.

[DAN LIGHTER]

I have put a link up so fingers crossed we get more support.

Edited by DAN LIGHTER, 19 April 2010 - 04:54 PM.

[Simg]

I have the OO7 Magazine covering that event. So the Saab on hand that day, and on the cover of OO7, was JGs personal (white) Saab? Interesting. Always assumed it was the touring car. (Think that's an error in my Saab article.)

Yes, it was white.

You will recall, that in LR no colour - oddly? - is given for the Saab; it is only at the start of FSS that it is refered to a "the SILVER Beast"....

Coincidence???

Hang on folks I only said 'I thought' the promo car was silver. It is a long time ago in a galaxy far far away and in those days I drank an awful lot thus rehab later in life. Looking at the few pictures I have of the 007 SAAB promo car it does appear to be white, see attached image. That would mean that the chances were it was the promo car at the convention. I say this as my Father given the chance to be driven as opposed to driving himself he would prefer a chauffeur! Sorry if I have confused the issue with an off hand comment. SRJG

 SAAB007.jpg   48.9KB   20 downloads

[DAN LIGHTER]

I think we are all getting excited that you are here Simon, in a virtual sense.

[Righty007]

I think we are all getting excited that you are here Simon, in a virtual sense.

I'll second that.

[Trident]

I think we are all getting excited that you are here Simon, in a virtual sense.

I'll second that.

Definitely!