For the Trek writers here. Is it generally easier to get an ebook "published" in the Star Trek setting? Is there a process of any kind for submitting ideas/projects for consideration? This comes up from reading articles about some current ebook only authors on Kindle and Nook. I was just interested to see if the Star Trek franchise is adapting to new technology.
The submission process would be the same regardless of publication format. Anyway, Pocket isn't currently publishing original Trek eBooks, although that could change in the future.
Simon & Schuster was an early venturer into the realm of original eBook fiction ("Starfleet Corps of Engineers", followed by a TOS mini-series and a TNG mini-series), and their efforts were critically acclaimed. There was also the non fiction book, "The Magic of Tribbles: The Making of ST: DS9's 'Trials and Tribble-ations'." A few years ago, S&S walked away from their original eBook division because it wasn't making enough profit.
^In today's high eBook sales, Pocket should reconsider - as long as they keep the eBooks at a low price, they'd make enough I would think.
The Aliens Are Coming was first printed in SNW III and then republished as an eBook by Ordover to tie-in to Greg Cox's Eugenics Wars novels IIRC.
I have no idea since I have read neither version, but this is what Dayton has to say about the eBook version on his website:
Well, they pulled out just as many other publishers started getting into it, and it seems like there's hardly anyone left in the S&S eBook division. Their jobs were culled. What's your evidence for "today's high eBook sales" of original material, though? It's my understanding it's still a very small sector of the book-buying market, especially original eBooks. S&S is still doing eBook reprints (and parallel publishing).
All traditional publishers are now moving into parallel publishing, releasing hardcovers and eBooks at the same time, but some of the small independent presses are releasing new books in eBook form only at least to start with, and the rest are doing parallel publishing. I think that a resurgence of the Corps of Engineers eBooks would work but S&S have to release the last couple of anthologies in eBook as well as print for those that haven't read them to catch up before they start doing new ones. Additionally, I think other "original material" could work, maybe Gorkon/Klingon Empire eBooks, Starfleet Medical Corps., maybe an Alien/Planet Spotlight eBook miniseries like IDW did. A DS9, VOY or ENT miniseries might also work. ePub and AZW (Kindle) are much better formats than PDF for eBooks and now that eBook readers have flooded the market (between $99 and $199 for the majority of them such as Kobo, Nook, Sony, Kindle) more and more people are reading eBooks. If the content is available at the right price, people will buy them. Price is important. S&S are going to sell nothing if the eBooks are $3.99 as you can buy full length novels for that or less. $1.99 or $2.49 is probably the best price for them to make them buyable for most people. Whether that kind of price point would make them financially viable for S&S I don't know, but I think it's worth another look.