Lord Of The Rings guide book one of the country's best sellers

The Lord of the Rings wave of popularity is bringing a tidy financial bonus for Wanaka man and devoted JRR Tolkien fan Ian Brodie.

Mr Brodie's Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook on the 100 New Zealand Middle Earth locations at which the film was made, is rapidly becoming one of the country's best-sellers.

Mr Brodie, the curator of the New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum in Wanaka, has produced more than 205,000 copies in the original and revised edition.

Mr Brodie, who has read Tolkien's book 30 times since he was 14, said the success of his guide book amazed him.

"I expected to sell 10,000 copies in a year but 205,000 in a year -- what sort of record is that?

"It has been total fun from day one for me as a fan."

Mr Brodie said he approached Time Warner Inc's New Line Cinema and suggested there was a gap for a guidebook.

After talking to director Peter Jackson for additional details for the revised edition Mr Brodie said he was even given a part as an extra in the third movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

"I am a Gondorian bread salesman. You can see half of my head next to Sir Ian McKellen. So I am in the movie which is fantastic."

Mr Brodie took royalties from every sale but said by the time New Line Cinema and others took their cut, there was not a lot left -- although he admitted he would have enough for an extra Christmas drink or two.

The Lord of the Rings Guidebook is Mr Brodie's 10th book, most of them on aircraft which he said is his day job.

"But I think I sold in a month more Lord of the Rings guides than all of my other books combined."

The second and revised edition is into its fourth reprint.

He now plans to produce a large format coffee table book which is due to be published in August.

"It is great for backpackers and people travelling around New Zealand but what I wanted was a bigger book to show off the beauty of New Zealand and the locations," Mr Brodie said.

- NZPA


Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings