When Daniel Craig was finally confirmed as the sixth film James Bond, the producers succeeded in generating a worldwide media stir by having him roar into a Thamesside press call on a speedboat, flanked by Royal Marines.
Publishers of the "new" Bond book by Sebastian Faulks are hoping to cue a similar sensation when it is published at the end of this month. In what Penguin promises will be the "most spectacular [book launch] in publishing for decades", the Bookseller reports that first copies will be delivered with a similar entourage on board HMS Exeter to meet the press at Tower Bridge. (Let's hope the book will not embarrass itself, as Daniel Craig did, by wearing a lifejacket.) A spokesman for the publisher was reluctant to reveal further details of the big event, so we are unable to confirm whether the book will pose for the paparazzi and host a press conference.
If the launch creates the impact Penguin are hoping for, can we then expect similar tie-in stunts? Will Jackie Collins's next book be sighted first in long lens photographs sunbathing in Malibu, and the next Will Self novel get snapped emerging from The Priory? Will Jeffrey Archer's next book stand for parliament? Stranger things have happened, as voters in London's recent mayoral election know.
