German Covers for Typhon Pact

[CaptainDonovin]

8of5 wrote:

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Fear not, they've updated the Zero Sum Game one again, with a new portrait of Ezri, and corrected collars:

Ahh, much better. I'll be able to sleep now - unless the chili dogs I had for dinner start barking.

[Therin of Andor]

MvComedy wrote:

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I like how the artists for Paths of Disharmony moved Shar's antennae forward to reflect their placement on the Andorians from Enterprise...

A very painful operation.

[CaptainDonovin]

I"m sure this has been asked before but who decides on the cover designs for the U.S. releases?

[Therin of Andor]

CaptainDonovin wrote:

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I"m sure this has been asked before but who decides on the cover designs for the U.S. releases?

The editor at Pocket Books would commission and approve US cover art. He must work to strict budgets for cover art, and these have decreased since the days of fully-painted covers. So that's Ed S. (And the head of Marketing, I presume.) There would also be input and approval from John Van Citters' team at CBS Consumer Products. The authors may or may not get consulted, on a case-by-case basis. Some authors get more input as to preferences for cover art than others.

The German publisher is a much smaller concern, although CBS Consumer Products would still have to approve the art.

[CaptainDonovin]

Thanks Therin.

[Defcon]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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The German publisher is a much smaller concern, although CBS Consumer Products would still have to approve the art.

Which resulted in a last minute change for their latest TOS release Der Friedensstifter (Mudd in your Eye). The original draft had Harry Mudd on the Cover alongside Kirk, but at the end of December, just one month before the release date Pocket (I guess in cooperation with CBS) informed them that they had to redo the cover since they had no rights to Roger C. Carmel's likeliness. In the end they pretty much just resized Kirk's image to make up for the loss of Mudd.

You can see the original draft with Mudd here

and the final version without Mudd here.

[USS Firefly]

The cover now is looking very good, too bad I can't reading German
But why is there a Borg cube on the cover of "typhon pact Bestien"?

[Dimesdan]

USS Firefly wrote:

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But why is there a Borg cube on the cover of "typhon pact Bestien"?

Because the first chapter focuses on a battle towards the end of the Borg incursion that involved Sisko and Vaughn.

It does seem a little silly having it on there, but what can you do? One of the reasons why the Typhon Pact was created was because those powers believed being together was better than opposing each other and the Borg incursion was a big part of that.

[Therin of Andor]

USS Firefly wrote:

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But why is there a Borg cube on the cover of "typhon pact Bestien"?

Borg themes continue to grab attention. And that's what cover art is also meant to do.

[Dimesdan]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Borg themes continue to grab attention. And that's what cover art is also meant to do.

Have you read the book in question or is it on your over flowing to read pile?

[USS Firefly]

I have read all the Typhon pact books, but it was almost 2 years ago and I must have forgotten that part.

[Therin of Andor]

Dimesdan wrote:

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Have you read the book in question or is it on your over flowing to read pile?

What is your problem with me?

You, yourself, said earlier, "Because the first chapter focuses on a battle towards the end of the Borg incursion that involved Sisko and Vaughn."

Do I have to have to have read the entire book just to agree that there is a Borg-related sequence in the book, and to remind others that Borg books/covers typically sell well?

FYI, I have read the first "Typhon Pact" novel, "Zero Sum Game", which I very much enjoyed, but ended up jumping ahead because I was the beta reader for "Paths of Disharmony". I have not yet got back to the others because I was soon engrossed by the two excellent DTI books and now the "Cold Equations" trilogy.

[Dimesdan]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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What is your problem with me?

Now what makes you think I would tell you in an open forum?

You, yourself, said earlier, "Because the first chapter focuses on a battle towards the end of the Borg incursion that involved Sisko and Vaughn."

Do I have to have to have read the entire book just to agree that there is a Borg-related sequence in the book, and to remind others that Borg books/covers typically sell well?

One, yes I wrote that, I know I wrote that because, well I wrote it, I wrote it because the question of why the Borg feature on the front of a story set quite a bit of time after Destiny and after they got assimilated themselves and left for pastures new and because I've read the book in question, I felt I could answer the question.

Two, are you now privy to how well books are selling? When ever this question comes up, individuals, including yourself have said this information is highly classified and not for public consumption.

So tell me Ian, are you now privy to such information and also, why don't Full Circle, Unworthy and half the other books based after Destiny have Borg front and centre on their covers? Hell, why didn't Destiny, the Ultimate Borg Story didn't have the Borg on their front cover? Now I might be wrong, but in all of Trek Publishing, a grand total of two stories have had the Borg on their cover, Vendetta which was published some twenty years ago and Before Dishonour five-and-a-half years ago and the latter just had the side of a Borg Cube.

Three, this kinda leads back to the point I made in one, the question was asked why the Borg appeared on the cover, your answer didn't actually answer that, if you have read the book in question, hell, even the first chapter you would have known, but you didn't and your answer was at best misleading and at worst, completely and utterly wrong.

But I digress. The covers look cool, a lot better than than the ones Pocket released for the English speaking market.

[Therin of Andor]

Dimesdan wrote:

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Now what makes you think I would tell you in an open forum?

So tell me in a PM. Or block me.

are you now privy to how well books are selling? When ever this question comes up, individuals, including yourself have said this information is highly classified and not for public consumption.

Well, I do chat to my local SF specialist bookshop and comic shop every week. The bookshop orders in about 20 of each new ST title for the open shelves, and more for customer pre-orders, and some titles vanish within days while others sit around for weeks/months. The Borg on licensed merchandise do seem to sell fast, which is probably why Pocket, IDW and previous licensees have used Borg elements, and why the "Voyager" series plundered the Borg so often in its episodes.

I've also been an editor of a professional journal, so yes, I've had some experience in observing how certain popular design elements can "sell" a product. Similarly, we've seen Spock turn up on covers where he had minimal participation in a novel.

So tell me Ian, are you now privy to such information and also, why don't Full Circle, Unworthy and half the other books based after Destiny have Borg front and centre on their covers?

Well, you're certainly not going to use the Borg on every cover. Those books had other important things they wanted to convey. I guess. I speculate. As do we all.

As my sig has said, for years now, and due partly to previous complaints about my posting style, my speculations are my personal opinion.

Hell, why didn't Destiny, the Ultimate Borg Story didn't have the Borg on their front cover?

No idea. These are things that fans enjoy speculating about.

Now I might be wrong, but in all of Trek Publishing, a grand total of two stories have had the Borg on their cover, Vendetta which was published some twenty years ago and Before Dishonour five-and-a-half years ago and the latter just had the side of a Borg Cube.

And many DC, Marvel and IDW comic covers, including the current "Doctor Who"/TNG crossovers and trade omnibuses. And VOY VHS tapes here Down Under. And the prevalence of Playmates' Seven of Nine figures, in every costume variation imaginable. And Simon & Schuster Interactive ("Star Trek: Borg"). And the Simon & Schuster Audioworks adaptation of that game. And the upcoming DK "Visual Dictionary".

your answer was at best misleading and at worst, completely and utterly wrong.

It's my personal speculation. I'm allowed to be wrong. And so are you.

Ask Ed. I'm sure he'd agree that "Borg sell." I do not know it for fact, but it's my personal speculation and opinion, until proven wrong.

[T'Bonz]

All right. No personal stuff. Drop it, guys.