Amazon and Ian Fleming Publications have agreed to a ten-year license for North American rights to the entire list of James Bond books by Ian Fleming in print and e-book. Also included in the agreement are Fleming's two nonfiction works, Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers. Jonny Geller, managing director at Curtis Brown, negotiated the agreement. All of the titles will be reissued by Amazon Publishing's Thomas & Mercer imprint beginning in summer 2012. The e-books have only been confirmed for the Kindle, with other platforms still to be decided.
"We are excited to be using the opportunity of this re-license to introduce Ian Fleming's books to a broader audience in the USA, and we believe that Amazon Publishing has the ability to place the books back at the heart of the Bond brand, balancing traditional publishing routes with new technologies and new ways of reaching our readers," said Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.
This agreement comes on the heels of the announcement last month by The Random House Group that the Bond backlist was returning to its publishing roots in the U.K., with Vintage Books (sister imprint of Jonathan Cape, the original publisher of Casino Royale) acquiring a ten-year license for exclusive rights to the Bond novels in the English language with the exception of North America.
