Ok, so I lied when I said I wouldn't post anything until the new website on the 5th May. But I couldn't resist. You see today is a day I've been quietly waiting for, for many a long year. Today the new Dan Brown book was announced, with its publication to be on September 15th of this year worldwide. No Solomon Key as the title, its to be called The Lost Symbol. A title both plain and enigmatic and one designed to give nothing away about the content and direction of the plot.
So, let the games begin. Gird your loins and prepare for a juggernaut to take off down the runway. For The Da Vinci Code there were over 120 books 'about' his book - for the next one there are bound to be many more than that. I myself am part of this industry, indeed it could be argued that I started it (as far as the Dan Brown books are concerned) with my Cracking The Da Vinci Code, being the first one out of the blocks several years ago. I followed that up with Illuminating Angels & Demons and then The Dan Brown Companion. It means a title change for my book too - so its hello to Decoding The Lost Symbol by Simon Cox and not Unlocking The Solomon Key. To be honest, I never quite understood how you could actually unlock a key, but that argument has now been made mute.
I held off from writing a book about the new one in advance, despite several offers, and now I feel much better about that decision. Those that have written books with Solomon Key in the title now look rather like chumps - not to mention the fact that the content may well have substantially changed in the last few years. Why would there have been such a delay otherwise? I understand that this book has had several major rewrites in the past few years, with Hollywood blockbusters and court cases taking their toll on Brown's plot lines and making him wary of using sources he had already researched.
The publishing and book selling business are overjoyed. Indeed, the announcement at the London Book Fair today was met with joy unconfined, on a scale not seen in the business in many years. Booksellers are already predicting it as the best seller of the year and emails have already started to appear from the likes of Barnes & Noble advertising substantial discounts for pre-orders made today. This promises to be a phenomena in the image of The Da Vinci Code before it.
Personally it signals the start of a program of events that I have been planning for the past five years. I signed my deal to write a book about Brown's next book a number of years ago, but have planned for this event well in advance. Its going to be a fun ride. Rumour and counter rumour are sure to jostle with each other on the internet and in the newspapers about the plot line - I have already been asked this same question by a major media outlet - but I am keeping quiet on this - and even if I did know the whole plot, I would keep my lips sealed. Secrets are meant to be kept.
Simon Cox
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