Seattle PublishingOnline.com announced today that it has entered into an exclusive publishing agreement with Raymond Benson, best known as the current author of the James Bond 007 novels. Mr. Benson was commissioned by Ian Fleming (Glidrose) Publications Ltd. in 1996 to continue the best-selling series after Fleming, Kingsley Amis, and John Gardner.
Of particular interest to James Bond fans is the electronic publication of Benson`s landmark encyclopedic work, The James Bond Bedside Companion, long considered to be the best non-fiction study of the 007 phenomenon. Originally published in 1984, it was nominated for an EdgarAllan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America) for Best Biographical/Critical Work of that year.
The Bedside Companion is often cited to be the “Bible of Bond,” as it contains a history of the rise in Bond`s popularity, a in-depth biography of Ian Fleming, and illuminating analyses of the novels and films up to that point in time. Out of print since 1990, The James Bond Bedside Companion will now be available again to fans around the world.
PublishingOnline.com has also entered into an exclusive agreement with Benson to publish his first non-Bond novel, Evil Hours, a “serial” in fourteen episodes. Benson describes Evil Hours as a “drama that takes place in a fictional small West Texas town and is a cross between Larry McMurtry and David Lynch.” The story concerns a young woman`s quest for the truth about her mother`s murder, which occurred over 25 years earlier.
Evil Hours will appear in weekly installments on www.PublishingOnline.com, free to readers for a limited time, after which it will be offered for sale in its entirety along with POL`s other titles. The first episode of Evil Hours will make its online debut on April 25th at 7am est.
Two of Benson`s original short stories, The Plagiarist and Thumbs Down, will also be published on the POL Web site. Benson describes these tales, written in the mid-eighties, as “Twilight Zone”-style fantasies dealing with the plight of frustrated writers.
PublishingOnline.com digitizes in-print, mid-list, backlist and out of print titles as well as front list selections and makes them available for sale electronically on the Internet. PublishingOnline.com will make many titles available for purchase in a variety of formats—Windows, Windows CE, Palm Pilot, SoftBook, Apple. E-books, essays, articles and poetry can be downloaded for prices ranging from $5.00 to $50.00.
PublishingOnline.com carries titles from all types of trade publishers and individual authors. The Web site is located at http://www.PublishingOnline.com. For additional information call (206) 439-9257 or contact the company via Email:info@publishingonline.com.