The countdown to the publishing event of the year- a new James Bond novel to mark Ian Fleming’s centenary by none other than Sebastian Faulks - officially begins today at www.myspace.com/devilmaycarebook.
Devil May Care has come to MySpace, and we’re looking for someone to create the book’s theme tune. Not only will this bring the winner fame, glory and admiration, but their song will be featured on the audio book (published this May), and they’ll also receive £1000 to spend on music equipment.
The question has already been asked - why MySpace? Is Penguin ignoring Bond's original audience, in their attempt to be too down with the kids? I don't believe so. And MySpace isn't just for the kids these days, anyway. We thought long and hard about what we could offer to Bond fans and would-be Bond fans online, given that there is already so much out there. We don’t believe in building websites for the sake of it. Partnering with MySpace gives us a chance to bring Bond – the original Bond as Ian Fleming created him – to a whole new audience. Entrants to the competition must sample a Fleming Bond audio book in their track, any part of five we have provided: not only will this test their creativity, but entrants will be forced to think about who the Bond of the books is. It is this Bond who appears in Sebastian Faulks’ Devil May Care and, with no other detail on the content of the book available to them, they are wise to consider the Fleming backlist carefully.
And you can't really argue with MySpace’s statistics of over 10 million users in the UK. This hotbed of creativity provides an army of talented people who, lucky for us, are all in one place. These are the people who will bring the literary Bond into the twenty-first century – as far as I know, there has never been a theme tune for a book before. This is a chance for someone to make their own stamp on one of our most exciting books in a long time.
As for the hardcore Bond fans, I suspect they’ll join us anywhere to get their fix: extra content, behind-the-scenes glimpses, hints of what’s to come… and there’ll be lots of all of that as the countdown continues...
Jen Doyle
Wannabe Bond girl
Suddenly, another year has gone by. A final Harry Potter, the promise of more Bond, and a growing addiction to stollen - that's been my 2007 in a nutshell. The future, however, looks both golden and delicious: Bond is actually published, the shops stop selling stollen (for a while), and we give you a new Marian Keyes, the plague, a bit of musical poetry, some fairly monstrous and some very funny parenting, a gangland statistician, some number-crunching Lewis Caroll stuff, and a guide for nice guys. What more could you ask from 2008?
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a lovely New Year - I'm off to dance on the photocopier at the annual Penguin Towers bash.
Sam the Copywriter
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Today we unveiled the cover for the new James Bond novel, Devil May Care, which I hope you'll agree is rather striking.
We're publishing this new chapter in the life of Bond in May 2008 to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth. Sebastian Faulks has written the new novel - and it's all set to be one of the most exciting moments in 'book world' next year… keep watching this space.
We knew that this book cover had to be stylish, sophisticated and iconic - all the things one associates with Fleming's world-famous spy. So our Art Directors decided to take a slightly different approach to this artwork and we took on award-winning design agency - The Partners - who have worked with leading British brands such as Jaguar, the BBC and the National Gallery. We wanted someone who would have a slightly different take on designing a book cover, one which would go beyond usual publishing preconceptions about what such things should look like.
The Partners presented us initial designs based around the concept a blood-red flower with the silhouette of a naked woman as its stem set against a jet black background. Everyone - the Estate of Ian Fleming, Sebastian Faulks and all those involved in-house - reacted really positively to the concept artwork… so the next stage was to find our Bond cover girl. Tough job.
We knew the moment we saw Tuuli that she was the one - she exuded the grace, style and beauty one associates with all the Bond girls. Most of all Tuuli was fantastically enthusiastic and engaged with the project - her vivacity really came through in the shoot. Then the Partners applied their skills in finessing and styling - and the end result was a fantastically iconic image.
Without a shadow of a doubt I think this has been one of the most rewarding covers we've produced - the moment you mention the name James Bond people's eyes light up. Everyone involved in designing the cover has leapt to the challenge with that glint in their eyes - and the artwork really reflects that enthusiasm and passion.
You can't judge a book by it's cover - but you sure as hell can make people want to pick that book up and read it…
Alex Clarke, Editor, Penguin 007
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Today is a momentous day for us here at Penguin Towers - today we announce to the world that BOND IS BACK.
It's been a closely guarded secret here for a little while, but
thankfully the time has come that we can reveal to all that in May
2008, Penguin UK will be publishing the next literary instalment in the
glorious tradition of Ian Fleming's most famous double 0 agent.
And so, we bring you DEVIL MAY CARE - the
new James Bond novel. Most excitingly of all - I can tell you now that
the author of this next instalment is one of the true greats of British
writing ... Sebastian Faulks...
Famed for his "French Trilogy" (The Girl at the Lion D'Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray), and more recently for Human Traces and Engleby
- Sebastian has for the last twenty years reached out to readers with
his masterful prose, his meticulous eye for detail and setting, and his
exceptional ability to make his characters transcend the limits of the
page. And now he is applying his style and skill to writing the next
chapter in the life of our favourite spy - Bond, James Bond.
Picking up exactly where Fleming left off, DEVIL MAY CARE
is set during the height of the Cold War, the action played out in
exotic locations across the world - and it seems Sebastian very much
enjoyed getting into the swing of things:
“In his house in Jamaica, Ian Fleming used to write a thousand words
in the morning, then go snorkelling, have a cocktail, lunch on the
terrace, more diving, another thousand words in late afternoon, then
more Martinis and glamorous women. In my house in London, I followed
this routine exactly, apart from the cocktails, the lunch and the
snorkelling.”
I can't reveal too much about the book at this stage - you'll have
to wait until next May I'm afraid - but believe me - it really will be
worth it. DEVIL MAY CARE has everything one could possibly
ask from a James Bond novel, everything one could possibly ask from
Sebastian Faulks' writing, and most of all, it's a bloody good
thriller. I promise you all - you're in for a real treat.
For more information - please visit www.Penguin007.com
Alex Clarke - Senior Editor
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