I noticed that - not sure where they got that line from - though I suppose she was not very well known in the US at that point. Maybe The Avengers wasn’t on prime time TV over there until it went to colour?
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I'm pretty sure The Avengers didn't start airing in the US until Diana Rigg came aboard (ironically, that was one reason she was hired in OHMSS--she was a familiar face to us Amurricans), so you may not be wrong.
Although telerecordings of the second and third series were seen in Canada as early as 1963, the first two series of The Avengers were not broadcast on television in the United States.
. . . . .
The show was sold to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1965, and The Avengers became one of the first British series to be aired on prime-time US television. The US ABC network paid the then-unheard-of sum of $2 million for the first 26 episodes. The average budget for each episode was reportedly £56,000, which was high for the British industry.
___________________________________________
I just found a copy of Patrick MacNee's book the Avengers and Me, I should maybe have a look and see what he says, he oughta know
or, since this the book covers thread, I should just shut up and show you the cover
Slightly Off-Topic (and I think it's being very much enjoyed, please continue!), what did you think of the Snelling book? I thought it was okay especially for the time but very overshadowed by Amis's Dossier.
Also "sex-galore confederate Mary Goodnight"???? Do these blurb writers actually read the book concerned?
It’s probably been 30+ years since I read it, but I remember enjoying it. As for blurb writers their sole aim is to get people to buy books and as such they may not even read the book but read a synopsis given to them by the editor. He/She would have also seen the bikini clad Britt picture and put 2 and 2 together to make 5 - may not even have known that this was an original novel and not a tie-in.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
My final look at Signet covers involves Britain’s answer to Stephen King - James Herbert. They both appeared on the scene in 1974, King with Carrie and Herbert with TheRats. TheRats is by far the superior novel but at that time it would have been impossible to film in a plausible manner, Carrie wasn’t and Brian De Palma’s superb horror film put King on the map. Despite King championing the merits of Herbert he surprisingly didn’t take off in the USA. An Australian movie version of TheSurvivor was ineptly handled and by the time TheRats was filmed in a disastrously terrible film (aka DeadlyEyes) in 1982 the writing was in the wall as far as the USA was concerned. With todays CGI it would be nice to see a faithful adaption of TheRats as a mini-series. Sales of Herbert were always good for me, albeit with low prices, but these American editions enabled another pound or two to be added.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The Crime Writers Association have annual awards and one of them is called the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger which is given to the best thriller of the year. It’s sponsored by the Ian Fleming estate. Ian Fleming said there was one essential criterion for a good thriller – that “one simply has to turn the pages”; this is one of the main characteristics that the judges will be looking for.
Here are covers from some of the winners…
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,631Chief of Staff
August Derleth wrote over a 100 books and his Solar Pons series was very popular, mimicking Sherlock Holmes he did a decent job in capturing the essence of those books. After his death in 1971 the mantle was taken over by Basil Copper.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I love Solar Pons, and re-read the books from time to time. There are more Pons stories than there are Holmes ones, and they're better than most of the official continuation collections (eg the "Exploits").
They're becoming a bit pricey these days, glad I got mine years ago.
In the USA Ace published unauthorised paperback editions of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy as they claimed it was not protected under American copyright law…
They were eventually withdrawn and authorised editions were published by Ballantine…
But it’s the unauthorised editions that are more highly valued nowadays, especially this slipcase set…
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The Commander Shaw Counterspy series was a Bond clone who appeared in 22 books. I read a couple many years ago and thought they were ok. Some of the covers were good, though, which helped drive sales.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Comments
Some good detail there @caractacus potts thanks for posting.
Onwards with the next batch of Signet Bond covers…
To be continued…
Hadn't seen some of those. "Introducing Honor Blackman", eh? 😀😂😂
I noticed that - not sure where they got that line from - though I suppose she was not very well known in the US at that point. Maybe The Avengers wasn’t on prime time TV over there until it went to colour?
I'm pretty sure The Avengers didn't start airing in the US until Diana Rigg came aboard (ironically, that was one reason she was hired in OHMSS--she was a familiar face to us Amurricans), so you may not be wrong.
from wikipedia:
Although telerecordings of the second and third series were seen in Canada as early as 1963, the first two series of The Avengers were not broadcast on television in the United States.
. . . . .
The show was sold to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1965, and The Avengers became one of the first British series to be aired on prime-time US television. The US ABC network paid the then-unheard-of sum of $2 million for the first 26 episodes. The average budget for each episode was reportedly £56,000, which was high for the British industry.
___________________________________________
I just found a copy of Patrick MacNee's book the Avengers and Me, I should maybe have a look and see what he says, he oughta know
or, since this the book covers thread, I should just shut up and show you the cover
Good cover, I haven’t seen that before.
The rest of the Signet Bond covers…
I found the TB movie tie-in…
And the rear cover to TMWTGG movie tie-in…
And some more Fleming and Bond related covers…
I will be posting some Signet movie tie-ins next…
Slightly Off-Topic (and I think it's being very much enjoyed, please continue!), what did you think of the Snelling book? I thought it was okay especially for the time but very overshadowed by Amis's Dossier.
Also "sex-galore confederate Mary Goodnight"???? Do these blurb writers actually read the book concerned?
It’s probably been 30+ years since I read it, but I remember enjoying it. As for blurb writers their sole aim is to get people to buy books and as such they may not even read the book but read a synopsis given to them by the editor. He/She would have also seen the bikini clad Britt picture and put 2 and 2 together to make 5 - may not even have known that this was an original novel and not a tie-in.
Yes, you're obviously right. I shall therefore stop complaining about the inaccuracy of the blurbs- unless it really gets too much!
Please, carry on pointing these things out, it’s all part of the fun!
Signet Books published a whole bunch of movie tie-ins - these examples use the movie poster artwork - and very good they are…
Carter Brown was the pen name of Alan Yates who wrote over 200 published novels in the private eye / detective genre. Many good covers from Signet…
These were very popular - always sold well.
Mickey Spillane was the undisputed king of pulp fiction writers - some Signet covers…
My penultimate (for now) look at those great Signet covers…
My final look at Signet covers involves Britain’s answer to Stephen King - James Herbert. They both appeared on the scene in 1974, King with Carrie and Herbert with The Rats. The Rats is by far the superior novel but at that time it would have been impossible to film in a plausible manner, Carrie wasn’t and Brian De Palma’s superb horror film put King on the map. Despite King championing the merits of Herbert he surprisingly didn’t take off in the USA. An Australian movie version of The Survivor was ineptly handled and by the time The Rats was filmed in a disastrously terrible film (aka Deadly Eyes) in 1982 the writing was in the wall as far as the USA was concerned. With todays CGI it would be nice to see a faithful adaption of The Rats as a mini-series. Sales of Herbert were always good for me, albeit with low prices, but these American editions enabled another pound or two to be added.
I read a couple of his back in the day, but he never really grabbed me. I liked the film of his "Haunted", though.
IIRC, the UK covers were better?
These were the first UK paperback covers in relation to the ones above…
The first edition hardcover was much better for The Fog, I’m not sure why they went with the inferior paperback design.
The Crime Writers Association have annual awards and one of them is called the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger which is given to the best thriller of the year. It’s sponsored by the Ian Fleming estate. Ian Fleming said there was one essential criterion for a good thriller – that “one simply has to turn the pages”; this is one of the main characteristics that the judges will be looking for.
Here are covers from some of the winners…
I’ve read two of those 👆🏻
August Derleth wrote over a 100 books and his Solar Pons series was very popular, mimicking Sherlock Holmes he did a decent job in capturing the essence of those books. After his death in 1971 the mantle was taken over by Basil Copper.
I love Solar Pons, and re-read the books from time to time. There are more Pons stories than there are Holmes ones, and they're better than most of the official continuation collections (eg the "Exploits").
They're becoming a bit pricey these days, glad I got mine years ago.
In the USA Ace published unauthorised paperback editions of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy as they claimed it was not protected under American copyright law…
They were eventually withdrawn and authorised editions were published by Ballantine…
But it’s the unauthorised editions that are more highly valued nowadays, especially this slipcase set…
The Commander Shaw Counterspy series was a Bond clone who appeared in 22 books. I read a couple many years ago and thought they were ok. Some of the covers were good, though, which helped drive sales.
Some covers of popular action series…
Book cover tough guys look like film stars, while real life ones look like Prigozhin. The late Yevgeny Prigozhin.
His offer of a delicatessen in stainless steel sadly wasn't enough for Putin. Well, he was a chef after all.
Vlad keeps Putin his foot in it:
The fashion on the cover of "If dying was all" is truly impressive!
I know this thread loves a cheeky cover or two. These are my Anna Zordan trilogy collection paperbacks: