General Trek Book Discussion

[EntAllat]

You got it. And thanks for posting the cover - that looks just gorgeous!

[Reanok]

I saw the cover postedat trek bbs I wonder what the German version of the Enterrpise cover will look like they have really cool covers for their books.At least they finally released the final coverart for the book.It would be nice to be able to read a sample chapter from the book at long alst.

[tish]

You got it. And thanks for posting the cover - that looks just gorgeous!

I have never been a part of something like this, however, if you need any help, let me know. I am also a purchaser of these books and these are the only ones I am buying.....only ENT for me! So my buying power for ST is in this series.

I love that cover, hope ours (in USA) is as good.

[The Middleman]

I love that cover, hope ours (in USA) is as good.

Tish, that is the US cover.

[tish]

oh good! now I hope my reserved copy gets here soon.

[Reanok]

I contacted Micheal today he said that TPTB haven't told him if Enterprise books series will continue to be printed. after To Brave the storm comes out in two months.He says he wants to write more Enterprise novels.I want to see more Enterprise novels continued to be published.

[paulinem]

I'm willing to step up to save the entire line of Star Trek books, and to rally for more ENT novels. But to be honest, before I do that I want to find out more about what the situation is in-house at the publisher and where these decisions are going and why:

Is it because licensing has changed? Is it the publisher's decision to make the changes to the entire line, or is it CBS or Paramount that's pushing a new direction for licensed products? Is Simon and Schuster having trouble staying afloat (this is a real problem for a lot of publishers). With Borders bookstores closing their doors, that's another distribution channel that's gone kaput. How are ebook sales when it comes to Trek? Would it be more effective if Enterprise fans reliably bought ebooks - i.e. would that be profitable enough to the publisher that they'd listen to us and expand the line?

They appear to have been successful with several multi short story books (like the Mirror Universe series) which also have more relaxed guidelines for authors than for the novels. I'd love to see a line of Enterprise anthologies.

Anyway, once I know a little more, I'd be comfortable - and very willing - to lead a charge.

Reanok? What authors have you spoken with at Shoreleave and elsewhere? Could you PM me those names?

Yes, there could be a very legitimate reason why they have made this decision, but I'm quite sceptical that there would be. Here's my reasoning for my statement.

A few years back I went hunting for the DVD's for Enterprise. I could not find them anywhere. At the last place I looked at I asked the salesperson if they had them, or knew of where I could get them. His answer surprised me. Apparently you could once get the Enterprise DVD's, but the producers withdrew them from the shelf here in Australia. I can get every other incarnation of Star Trek, but not Enterprise. This sounds incredibly suspicious to me. It's well documented that Monvees (is that his name??? The CEO of CBS/Paramount??), was/is not a fan of sci-fi and hated Enterprise in particular. So my theory is that he pulled Enterprise from the shelves here because he was worried that support for the show would grow, because this was just after the last movie came out and more and more people were voicing their support of the series. I seriously doubt that Monvees wants that. So, here is his next step of squashing the series by denying the fans more of the show that shouldn't have been cancelled.

Of course, the above is just my opinion. It is not my intention to offend or ruffle any feathers...

In saying all of that. I haven't read any of the books, I doubt I'll find them in Australia, but I am more than willing to throw my support behind any action taken.

[tish]

I'm willing to step up to save the entire line of Star Trek books, and to rally for more ENT novels. But to be honest, before I do that I want to find out more about what the situation is in-house at the publisher and where these decisions are going and why:

Is it because licensing has changed? Is it the publisher's decision to make the changes to the entire line, or is it CBS or Paramount that's pushing a new direction for licensed products? Is Simon and Schuster having trouble staying afloat (this is a real problem for a lot of publishers). With Borders bookstores closing their doors, that's another distribution channel that's gone kaput. How are ebook sales when it comes to Trek? Would it be more effective if Enterprise fans reliably bought ebooks - i.e. would that be profitable enough to the publisher that they'd listen to us and expand the line?

They appear to have been successful with several multi short story books (like the Mirror Universe series) which also have more relaxed guidelines for authors than for the novels. I'd love to see a line of Enterprise anthologies.

Anyway, once I know a little more, I'd be comfortable - and very willing - to lead a charge.

Reanok? What authors have you spoken with at Shoreleave and elsewhere? Could you PM me those names?

Yes, there could be a very legitimate reason why they have made this decision, but I'm quite sceptical that there would be. Here's my reasoning for my statement.

A few years back I went hunting for the DVD's for Enterprise. I could not find them anywhere. At the last place I looked at I asked the salesperson if they had them, or knew of where I could get them. His answer surprised me. Apparently you could once get the Enterprise DVD's, but the producers withdrew them from the shelf here in Australia. I can get every other incarnation of Star Trek, but not Enterprise. This sounds incredibly suspicious to me. It's well documented that Monvees (is that his name??? The CEO of CBS/Paramount??), was/is not a fan of sci-fi and hated Enterprise in particular. So my theory is that he pulled Enterprise from the shelves here because he was worried that support for the show would grow, because this was just after the last movie came out and more and more people were voicing their support of the series. I seriously doubt that Monvees wants that. So, here is his next step of squashing the series by denying the fans more of the show that shouldn't have been cancelled.

Of course, the above is just my opinion. It is not my intention to offend or ruffle any feathers...

In saying all of that. I haven't read any of the books, I doubt I'll find them in Australia, but I am more than willing to throw my support behind any action taken.

Do you still not have the DVDs? Also, will Amazon be a place to get the books? This is where I have found most of mine, or in 2nd hand book stores. let me know of what you are able to get....i can check here for you as well!

[paulinem]

Do you still not have the DVDs? Also, will Amazon be a place to get the books? This is where I have found most of mine, or in 2nd hand book stores. let me know of what you are able to get....i can check here for you as well!

I was able to locate season 4 in a second hand store, but never the rest of the series, and I still keep looking everytime I'm out, hoping that TPTB would have relented, but alas no. I'm sure I could get both the books and the DVD's through Amazon, however I don't have the means to pay for things over the internet.

ETA: This is another reason why I think TPTB are trying to kill the series:

Senate Bill has the internet in a frenzy

What interested me most about this report was this:

While previously, Paramount Pictures (a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment and VIACOM Communications Corporation) gave an “OK” to fans to make STAR TREK fan media (so long as it does not turn a profit), VIACOM has signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill in an apparent move to rescind its previous Fair Use licenses.

This got me thinking about my own series, Enterprise S5, and why youtube cancelled my channel. One observer noted that he thought my channel was cancelled due to it becoming too popular (it's a nice thought), and that's why CBS requested my cancellation. I highly doubt this, however, seeing that 'so long as it does not turn a profit', I'm now wondering if this indeed might have been the case, because I did have a disclaimer, and made sure that it was noted that no money was changing hands so no money was being made!

Sorry, I don't mean to go off topic, but this news about the books just got me wondering behind their true motivation.

[EntAllat]

To be honest, I never ascribe malice to anything when it's a possibility that money making is involved, though I feel your pain paulinem! That's gotta be hugely frustrating.

I suspect that the DVD situ for ENT in Australia has something to do with licensing agreements, contracts and other related agreements with CBS. The legal stuff for DVDs and web-based delivery in particular keeps changing, as contracts with the various unions in Hollywood come up for renegotiation. (That's a good thing, because hopefully the actors, writers, crews, etc. will get a little better cut of those particular sales. But sometimes that means that can mean weird things happen on the shelves or online availability as something changes.)

As for the stuff about the Internet - yeah. That's a hot topic for the entertainment industry and one they are struggling to adjust to and wrap themselves around. I'm actually not surprised that they ended up with a seemingly contradictory position! There's still a lot of gray areas that aren't covered well or understood well by current lobbying efforts and somebody may say one thing, then lobby for something that would contradict it! New media (social media like Twitter vids, etc.) fandom in particular is one the things that probably has execs scratching their heads and legal departments in a tither. The same thing happened when the World Wide Web and Star Trek websites first came about.

I think we just need to keep reminding outlets that we love Star Trek, love Enterprise and educate about fandom and how it's changed since the Internet - in a positive way. Eventually they'll get it.