While perhaps not as well known as Sherlock Holmes or Agent 007, pulp magazines and later paperback books featuring the intrepid secret agent Nick Carter lasted for roughly a century. Carter's publisher retained the copyright to the character, contracting several authors to submit manuscripts on a consignment basis.
A sure sign of success is when a character outlives his creator, as is the case with Bond, who since Ian Fleming's demise in 1964 has continued to appear in novels written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and others.
Sales of the James Bond novels, it is said, received an enormous boost from an endorsement by John F. Kennedy, who began reading the books after meeting Fleming at a cocktail party.