General Trek Book Discussion

[Reanok]

I recently read news from Andy Mangels in the Treklit forum at trek bbs that he went to the new editor to pitch new ideas for StarTrek novels and The new editor rejected all of his story ideas he didn't want to go into details except to say there was some unpleasent falling out and that he probably will no longer be writing Startrek novels.It's really too bad. i was hoping he would write some more Enterprise books.

[Aquarius]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Reanok]

here's what Andy Mangels posted a month ago at Trek bbs Among other things too unsavory to mention in public,the dearth of slots for new books and changeover in editorship has affected me greatly. But then so has the economy and other factors.With the latest rejection from Idw( comics) sealing the door.I pretty much expect that my Trek writing career of 13 years is officially over.Except for the excellent British starTrek magazine.But it's been fun while it lasted.

[EntAllat]

I recently read news from Andy Mangels in the Treklit forum at trek bbs that he went to the new editor to pitch new ideas for StarTrek novels and The new editor rejected all of his story ideas he didn't want to go into details except to say there was some unpleasent falling out and that he probably will no longer be writing Startrek novels.It's really too bad. i was hoping he would write some more Enterprise books.

Damn. I've been worried that the Enterprise line of Star Trek novels might suffer from all the changes recently.

I started writing ENT fanfic specifically to practice, practice, practice in order to develop plot ideas and my prose to a point that it'd be pitchable to Simon and Schuster. In fact, I started the whole Twitterfic thing as a way to practice voice and dialog! I've put aside ideas that I thought might qualify as acceptable to their publishing line and used stuff for fanfic that I knew would get rejected.

But publishing in general has been hit pretty hard and this economy doesn't help. When Margaret Clark - the then Star Trek editor - was let go and the new movie came out I figured that there'd be some other big changes to the Trek line of novels. It was looking to me like new business decisions would mean that it'd be really difficult, if not impossible, for an unknown to get published in the line even if every rule was observed. I stopped focusing on a Trek novel a while ago and went back to working on my non-fiction books until I got a better idea of how the ENT line is shaking out.

But if Mangels had that hard a time pitching ideas to the new editor even after all his success in the ENT line ... well ... I'm just glad there's fanfic to read and that I don't have to wait years to read it. There's some really good stuff out there.

[Reanok]

EntAllat I haven't been thrilled with the news about there's going to be more novels dedicated to the new StarTrek movie reboot and they're dumping books from the otherss eries to make room for the new books.there's going to be a line of novels for teenagers coming out next month. Earlier this year there was a bunch of them that were supposed to come out this year but were canceled because it made J.J. Abrams upset about a new line of books because he thought it might intefear with the next movies storyline.I want to see more Enterprise or Tos novels.I don't care about novels based on the reboot movie.

[Honeybee]

But publishing in general has been hit pretty hard and this economy doesn't help. When Margaret Clark - the then Star Trek editor - was let go and the new movie came out I figured that there'd be some other big changes to the Trek line of novels. It was looking to me like new business decisions would mean that it'd be really difficult, if not impossible, for an unknown to get published in the line even if every rule was observed. I stopped focusing on a Trek novel a while ago and went back to working on my non-fiction books until I got a better idea of how the ENT line is shaking out.

Yeah, the departure of Margaret Clark was a shame, as she really did shepherd the relaunch novels to their success - and gave many, many ENT fans some sense of closure after the disaster that was the series finale. I'm very glad that Martin is at least able to write the next book, so we won't be left with that tense cliffhanger.

My sense of the Trek fandom is that the movie was embraced by casual fans, but the people who read the novels, buy the comic books and other gear remain series fans rather than reboot film fans. I think the reboot film brought some new blood to the series fandom, which is great, but I just don't see the same passion towards that film as fans have towards all five series.

[Aquarius]

Is it time for a letter-writing campaign and internet flash mobs?

[Honeybee]

I think so! To the book threads.

[Kathy Rose]

Do you think the publishing industry perhaps overextended itself with Star Trek? The reason I ask is because I can honestly say that, until about 10 years ago, I purchased every single novel of every Star Trek series ever written (except for graphic novels, which I couldn't where I live). I have two bookcases dedicated soley to Star Trek, from TOS through Enterprise, along with a few of the Corps of Engineers series.

When I first started buying Star Trek novels, a new one would come out about every six months to a year, and I anxiously awaited them. This was before TNG aired. When TNG came out, the novel publication rate seemed to increase, with both TOS and TNG novels. Then DS9 came out, with additional novels being released even more quickly.

By the time Voyager hit the airwaves, it seemed like every month a new novel or two was available. It was also about that time that, having left my full-time job to be a stay-at-home mom with my young children, I no longer could afford to purchase two or more books each month, especially when many of them were hardcover with a higher retail price than paperbacks. So I began to pick and choose which books I could fit in my budget.

Luckily, nowadays there are other outlets where I can find books at reduced prices, but I still don't buy every Star Trek novel that comes along. Right now my main interest is Enterprise novels, of course, and anything written in the context of the other series, meaning stories that are set during the series' runs, not what happened to the characters after that time period. Still being on a budget affects my choices, as does the fact that, at one point, there were so many novels out there that I lost interest in keeping up with them.

[Honeybee]

Do you think the publishing industry perhaps overextended itself with Star Trek?

Short answer? Yes. Absolutely. The Enterprise Relaunch books are special because they come out every couple of years and great care is put into each of them. I recognize some fans don't like them, but I think it's undeniable that Martin, Mangels and Clark put their heart and soul into that relaunch and worked within the limits of TATV to officially undo that travesty not just as profic people but as fans. When one comes out, it's an event.

In the other series, I think Pocket Books developed a factory mentality, churning out books without regard to quality since there were always people who would buy some of them. Sales probably plummeted due to the market flooding.

However, it seems that - in all too common corporate style - they expanded too far and now they are contracting too far. Perhaps the reboot films can support novels, but to push out their good writers and editors the way they have and completely eliminate series - doesn't bode well.

I think each series of books should produce a book once or twice a year - that way care can be put into each and it remains an event.