Editing Tom Clancy (section)

== Career ==
Clancy's literary career began in 1982 when he started writing ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'', which in 1984 he sold for publishing to the [[Naval Institute Press]] for $5,000.<ref name="nytimes obit"/><ref name=BaltimoreSun /> The publisher was impressed with the work; Deborah Grosvenor, the Naval Institute Press editor who read through the book, said later that she convinced the publisher: "I think we have a potential best seller here, and if we don't grab this thing, somebody else would." She believed Clancy had an "innate storytelling ability, and his characters had this very witty dialogue".<ref name="nytimes obit"/>  Clancy, who had hoped to sell 5,000 copies, ended up selling over 45,000.<ref name=BaltimoreSun /><ref name=BaltimoreSun1998 /> After publication, the book received praise from President Ronald Reagan, who called the work "the best yarn", subsequently boosting sales to 300,000 [[hardcover]] and two million [[paperback]] copies of the book, making it a national bestseller.<ref name="nytimes obit"/><ref name=BaltimoreSun /><ref name=BaltimoreSunObituary /> The book was critically praised for its technical accuracy, which led to Clancy's meeting several high-ranking [[officer]]s in the U.S. military, as well as [[Steve Pieczenik]], and to inspiration for recurring characters in his works.<ref name="nytimes obit"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX6fQlH0suA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/FX6fQlH0suA| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Steve Quayle Radio Interview With The Real Jack Ryan Dr Steve Pieczenik|website=[[YouTube]]|date=April 15, 2015 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>  Clancy's novels focus on the hero, most notably [[Jack Ryan (character)|Jack Ryan]] and [[John Clark (Tom Clancy character)|John Clark]], both Irish Catholics like himself. He repeatedly uses the formula whereby the heroes are "highly skilled, disciplined, honest, thoroughly professional, and only lose their cool when incompetent politicians or bureaucrats get in their way. Their unambiguous triumphs over evil provide symbolic relief from the legacy of the [[Vietnam War]]."<ref name="Hixson1993">{{cite journal |last1=Hixson |first1=Walter L. |title="Red Storm Rising": Tom Clancy Novels and the Cult of National Security |journal=Diplomatic History |date=October 1993 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=599–614 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.1993.tb00601.x |jstor=24912229 |issn=0145-2096}}</ref>

The [[Cold War]] epic ''[[Red Storm Rising]]'' (1986)<ref>{{cite book |title=Red Storm Rising |author1=Clancy, Tom |author2=Bond, Larry |name-list-style=amp |date=1986 |publisher=Putnam |edition=First |isbn=978-0-399-13149-3 |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1385857.Red_Storm_Rising}}</ref> was co-written (according to Clancy in the book's foreword) with fellow military-oriented author [[Larry Bond]]. The book was published by Putnam and sold almost a million copies within its first year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/media/features/5618/index1.html|title=Now for the Grann Finale|last=Maneker|first=Marion|date=January 1, 2002|website=New York Magazine|access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> Clancy became the cornerstone of a publishing list by [[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]], which emphasized authors like Clancy who would produce annually. His publisher, [[Phyllis E. Grann]], called these "repeaters."<ref name=":0" />

===Finances===
Clancy has author status on the cover of dozens of books. Seventeen of his novels made it to the top of the [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' best seller list]]. He co-authored memoirs of top generals, and produced numerous guided tours of the elite aspects of the American military.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}} [[Andrew Bacevich]] states:

<blockquote>Clancy did for military pop-lit what Starbucks did for the preparation of caffeinated beverages: he launched a sprawling, massively profitable industrial enterprise that simultaneously serves and cultivates an insatiable consumer base. Whether the item consumed provides much in terms of nourishment is utterly beside the point. That it tastes yummy going down more than suffices to keep customers coming back.<ref>Andrew J. Bacevich, "Tom Clancy, Military Man" ''The Baffler'' No. 24 (2014), p. 157. {{JSTOR|43306902}}.</ref></blockquote>

By 1988, Clancy had earned $1.3 million for ''The Hunt for Red October'' and had signed a $3 million contract for his next three books.<ref name=NYT88>{{Cite magazine |date=May 1, 1988 |last=Anderson |first=Patrick |title=King of the Techno-thriller |magazine=The New York Times Magazine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/01/magazine/king-of-the-techno-thriller.html}}</ref> In 1992, he sold North American rights to ''[[Without Remorse]]'' for $14 million, a record for a single book.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Is Clancy chancy at $14 million?|last=Max|first=Daniel|page=1|date=August 3, 1992}}</ref> By 1997, [[Penguin Putnam Inc.]] (part of [[Pearson Education]]) paid Clancy $50 million for world rights to two new books and another $25 million to [[Red Storm Entertainment]] for a four-year book/multimedia deal.<ref name=PW1997>{{Cite magazine |date=August 24, 1997 |volume=243 |issue=34 |last=Quinn |first=Judy |title=$100M Mega-Deals for Clancy |magazine=Publishers Weekly |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19970825/20798-100m-mega-deals-for-clancy-.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110022940/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19970825/20798-100m-mega-deals-for-clancy-.html |archive-date=January 10, 2011}}</ref> Clancy followed this up with an agreement with [[Penguin Group|Penguin]]'s [[Berkley Books]] for 24 paperbacks to tie in with the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television miniseries ''[[NetForce (film)|Tom Clancy's Net Force]]'', which aired in the fall/winter of 1998. The Op-Center universe has laid the ground for the series of books written by [[Jeff Rovin]], which was in an agreement worth $22 million, bringing the total value of the package to $97 million.<ref name=PW1997/>

In 1993, Clancy joined a group of investors that included [[Peter Angelos]], and bought the [[Baltimore Orioles]] from [[Eli Jacobs]].<ref name=BaltimoreSun1993>{{cite web |title=Tom Clancy offers to bid for Orioles with other locals Author would join Angelos, Knott |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/04/22/tom-clancy-offers-to-bid-for-orioles-with-other-locals-author-would-join-angelos-knott/ |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=November 8, 2013 |author=Mark Hyman |author2=Jon Morgan |date=April 22, 1993 |archive-date=November 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109071904/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-04-22/news/1993112212_1_clancy-orioles-angelos |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=BaltimoreSun2013>{{cite web |title=Best-selling author Tom Clancy's ties to Orioles date to 1993 |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2013/10/02/best-selling-author-tom-clancys-ties-to-orioles-date-to-1993/ |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=November 8, 2013 |author=Dean Jones Jr |date=October 2, 2013 |archive-date=November 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109071848/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-10-02/sports/bal-bestselling-author-tom-clancys-ties-to-orioles-date-to-1993-20131002_1_orioles-ownership-group-angelos-the-orioles |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1998, he tentatively reached an agreement to purchase the [[Minnesota Vikings]], but had to abandon the deal because of a divorce settlement cost.<ref name=BaltimoreSun1998_2>{{cite web |title=Clancy's Vikings ownership in a holding pattern |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1998/05/17/clancys-vikings-ownership-in-a-holding-pattern/ |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=November 9, 2013 |author=Vito Stellino |date=May 17, 1998 |archive-date=December 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206051530/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-05-17/sports/1998137123_1_clancy-vikings-league-sources |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=USAToday2013>{{cite web |title=Tom Clancy nearly owned the Minnesota Vikings |url=http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/tom-clancy-nearly-owned-the-minnesota-vikings/ |work=USA Today |access-date=November 9, 2013 |author=Chris Strauss |date=October 2, 2013}}</ref>

The first [[Tom Clancy's Net Force|NetForce]] novel, titled ''Net Force'' (1999), was adapted as a [[NetForce (film)|1999 TV movie]] starring [[Scott Bakula]] and [[Joanna Going]]. The [[Tom Clancy's Op-Center (novel)|first Op-Center novel]] (''Tom Clancy's Op-Center'' published in 1995) was released to coincide with a [[Tom Clancy's Op Center (film)|1995 NBC television miniseries of the same name]] starring [[Harry Hamlin]] and a cast of stars. Though the miniseries did not continue, the book series did, but later had little in common with the first TV miniseries other than the title and the names of the main characters.{{Citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

Clancy wrote several nonfiction books about various branches of the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. Armed Forces]] (see [[Tom Clancy bibliography#Non-fiction|nonfiction listing]], in the bibliography article). He also branded several lines of books and video games with his name that are written by other authors, following premises or storylines generally in keeping with Clancy's works.<ref name="Biblio" />

With the release of ''[[The Teeth of the Tiger]]'' (2003), Clancy introduced Jack Ryan's son and two nephews as main characters; those characters continued in his last four novels, ''[[Dead or Alive (novel)|Dead or Alive]]'' (2010), ''[[Locked On (novel)|Locked On]]'' (2011), ''[[Threat Vector (novel)|Threat Vector]]'' (2012), and ''[[Command Authority (novel)|Command Authority]]'' (2013).<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 26, 2021 |title=TOM CLANCY {{!}} Hunt Valley Life |url=https://huntvalleylife.town.news/g/timonium-md/e/43259/tom-clancy |access-date=August 8, 2024 |website=huntvalleylife.town.news |language=en}}</ref>

In 2008, the French video game manufacturer [[Ubisoft]] purchased the use of Clancy's name for an undisclosed sum. It has been used in conjunction with video games and related products such as movies and books.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Richard |url=http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/03/25/clancy-name-bought-by-ubisoft-worth-big-bucks/ |title=Clancy name bought by Ubisoft, worth big bucks. |publisher=Xbox360fanboy.com |date=March 25, 2008 |access-date=February 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124163926/http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/03/25/clancy-name-bought-by-ubisoft-worth-big-bucks |archive-date=January 24, 2009  }}</ref> Based on his interest in [[private spaceflight]] and his {{USD|1 million}} investment in the launch vehicle company [[Rotary Rocket]],<ref name=sdc20131016>
{{cite news |last=David |first=Leonard |title=How Late Author Tom Clancy Supported Private Spaceflight |url=http://www.space.com/23222-tom-clancy-private-spaceflight-supporter.html |access-date=October 19, 2013 |newspaper=Space.com |date=October 16, 2013}}</ref>
Clancy was interviewed in 2007 for the documentary film ''[[Orphans of Apollo]]'' (2008).<ref name=Amazon>{{cite web |title=Orphans of Apollo |url=https://www.amazon.com/Orphans-Apollo-Tom-Clancy/dp/B002HJHGUO |work=Amazon |access-date=November 23, 2019}}</ref>