Upcoming New Frontier novel up for pre order on Amazon

[borgboy]

Woah, woah, woah...when did this become an eBook trilogy? Amazon still has it listed as a paperback (which I pre-ordered it as). If this is an eBook only publication, I'll be very disappointed.

I have the book pre ordered from Amazon too, which means nothing.
I suspect the original book scheduled to be released has been chopped into three novellas now marketed as a trilogy. There's been some speculation that the book will come out as an ebook exclusive for some time before it gets a print version. I can deal either way, I'd just like to know.

Hopefully either way there really will be three full sized books coming out. I'm really excited about the return of the New Frontier series, I'd just rather get the info on the format of the release resolved.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Hopefully either way there really will be three full sized books coming out. I'm really excited about the return of the New Frontier series, I'd just rather get the info on the format of the release resolved.

The problem seems to be that, like the Pocket hardcover market dried up before it, the trade paperbacks line isn't selling as well as it could over recent years. It seems that PAD's contracts have been inbuilt, since "Stone and Anvil", to give him "two bites of the cherry" (ie. a hardcover or trade "New Frontier" release, followed by a MMPB reprint).

I speculate that the three-in-a-row eBooks are intended to create some extra excitement for the recently-revived eBook program. PAD's NF novels sell beyond regular Trek fiction buyers. Whether the subsequent reprint is a trade or just a MMPB, they may not yet have decided, and sales figures on the eBooks may be used to decide the next move.

Originally, though, this instalment was announced as a Gallery book, indicating (probably) a trade format.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I'm excited about the return of New Frontier, too, but I've never liked eBooks. I will not be happy if New Frontier's return is exclusively eBook. I might be a long-time fan (I've been reading them since it first started), but even that's not enough to get me to buy eBooks. I'll be every frustrated even if it's an eBook first and then maybe a print edition sometime in the future.

 

[borgboy]

The print and what seems to be a Kindle version of the originally announced book are still available for pre order from Amazon, listed at 412 pages. I suspect this will eventually disappear and be replaced with three ebooks at around 130-something pages each. Down the road they'll probably get a print release.
I still collects the print books out of habit and nostalgia as I have hundreds of Trek books in print on my bookshelves, but I read ebooks on a Kindle too, so I'll be ok if they come out as ebooks first. I do feel sympathy for people who don't do ebooks, as I didn't do ebooks for many years too.

For what it's worth, there are ways to read an ebook without a special ereader, any smart phone can be an ereader, and you can download a free program to read Kindle books on a pc. It's not ideal, I get that, but it's an option.

 

[Enterprise1701]

I wonder if "Return" is the name of the 3-part story or some kind of marketing until a title is decided upon. The article from startrek.com italicizes it, so maybe it is the title?

http://www.startrek.com/article/preview-star-trek-books-coming-in-2015

 

[Kilana2]

I'm excited about the return of New Frontier, too, but I've never liked eBooks. I will not be happy if New Frontier's return is exclusively eBook. I might be a long-time fan (I've been reading them since it first started), but even that's not enough to get me to buy eBooks. I'll be every frustrated even if it's an eBook first and then maybe a print edition sometime in the future.

The same goes for me, too. I would feel left out. Ebook-only short stories yes, but whole novels that continue the storyline? Hopefully there still will be paperbacks...

 

[Freman]

The original link goes to Peter's new Halo novel (which I'm pumped for). But please tell me this ebook trilogy is going to be coming out in book form as well. I hate ebooks.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The original link goes to Peter's new Halo novel (which I'm pumped for). But please tell me this ebook trilogy is going to be coming out in book form as well. I hate ebooks.

The trilogy is being promoted as "First in eBook", which suggests that it will eventually see form in hardcopy.

My first eBook purchase ever was the NF "No Limits" collection, because I was too stubborn to wait for the hardcopy trade to arrive in the post by airmail. I guess they are hoping for similar mass impatience, which may stimulate a spike in Pocket's eBook sales and create some media frenzy. A little frenzy is always a good thing for free publicity.

 

[JD]

The original link goes to Peter's new Halo novel (which I'm pumped for). But please tell me this ebook trilogy is going to be coming out in book form as well. I hate ebooks.

Why do you hate ebooks?

 

[Freman]

I prefer reading off of paper.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I like adding physical books to my collection. It's not entirely sensible, I know, but I'm always disappointed by e-book only releases because I can't hoard them. It would be like Kivas Fajo possessing holograms of rare items. It's not the same.

Maybe we anti-e-book types just have an inflated sense of "MINE".

 

[Freman]

That's part of it for me too. I prefer having stuff I can put on a shelf.

 

[Christopher]

I can understand having a preference for physical books, but I've never understood how a preference translates to an absolute refusal to read e-books even if they're the only format available. I mean, life is about making compromises and exceptions. On a plane, I prefer a window seat on the side opposite the sun, but if the only seat available is on the aisle on the right side, then I won't cancel the trip altogether, I'll just make the best of what's available. I might prefer to see a Godzilla movie in Japanese with subtitles, but if the only copy I can find is an English dub -- even a really old, scratchy VHS tape I tracked down at the library -- then I'll settle for that. Usually in life, if your preference isn't available, you settle for the next best option. A preference is a first choice, not the only acceptable choice.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I don't like staring at a screen when I'm reading a book. I much prefer the experience of reading a physical book because 1) It's easier on the eyes (cue "But the screens are adjusted to make it better on the eyes!" but that doesn't change the fact it's a screen of light instead of paper); 2) I find it much easier to jump from one page to another when looking for a reference with a physical book; 3) No eReader can compete with the feeling of holding (and smelling) a genuine book in your hands. The list goes on and on, but those are the main reasons why I much prefer physical books over eBooks.

I don't hate eBooks per se, but I hate the exclusiveness of eBooks in certain situations (like here), which was a major reason why I never got into the SCE series (yes, I know they were later republished in print...much later). One of many arguments for eBooks is space, and yet, as someone in the Navy who traveled with limited, I never had a problem with this issue. I've never been convinced by the argument for eBooks just like I haven't been convinced by paperbacks over hardbacks or Blu-Ray over DVD (likewise, I despise the extras exclusiveness for Blu-Rays to the point that I rarely buy DVDs anymore).

 

[Therin of Andor]

I prefer reading off of paper.

So do I but for "New Frontier" (and a few local books I recently tried to buy that were out of print in hardcopy), I made an exception.

There are devices now that have white screens and black text of your own choosing that can be adjusted for failing eyesight. Won't be long before the effect is indistinguishable from paper.

 

[Idran]

I won't argue with most of your points since they come down to personal preference, but

1) It's easier on the eyes (cue "But the screens are adjusted to make it better on the eyes!" but that doesn't change the fact it's a screen of light instead of paper)

Kindles aren't screens of light, at least, they're electronic ink. They're a reflective display like paper, not an emittive display like a monitor.

 

[Christopher]

I don't like staring at a screen when I'm reading a book. I much prefer the experience of reading a physical book because...

Yes, I get all that. That's not the issue. I don't like sitting on the side of the plane that faces the Sun either. But if it's the only option available, I'll take it and make do. Again, I do understand having a preference; what I don't understand is making it such an absolute preference that you'll never, ever make an exception under any circumstances. I prefer print myself, but I have nothing against the occasional e-book.

2) I find it much easier to jump from one page to another when looking for a reference with a physical book;

I find just the opposite. Trying to find a specific word or passage in a print book can take maybe 15-20 minutes of searching, if I'm lucky. With an electronic text, I can find it in seconds. Lately, if I want to find a passage in a Trek book I have on my shelves, I'll first go to Google Books and look it up there so I can get the page numbers, then I'll look it up in the physical book. Or if it's one of my own books, I'll look in the Word document on my hard drive.

Hmm... come to think of it, maybe that's why I'm more okay with e-books. It's all but impossible to be a professional writer these days without spending a lot of time working with electronic texts on a screen. The more you use something, the more you get used to it.

3) No eReader can compete with the feeling of holding (and smelling) a genuine book in your hands.

Honestly, I've never been sentimental about that. I often find codex books to be awkward to handle, particularly if they're heavy hardcovers or if I need a hand free for something. If I'm trying to look up a passage in a print book so I can type out a quote from it on my keyboard, it can be hard to get the book to stay open at a given page, so I have to read off a short passage, close the book (with a bookmark inside) to type it out, then open it again, then close it again and type, etc. It's very annoying. Objectively, codex books have a lot of drawbacks.

 

[Nathan]

Chris, I think the argument is "the juice ain't worth the squeeze"

I'm one of those who prefer paper books over the E-books.

I'm a uber-Nelson Demille fan, and probably would read an e-book if nothing else is available.

I'm current with all the paper books for New Frontier. NF not my favorite series, but I read it and put up with the wacky/zany-ness of the characters. Am I gonna get an e-reader just I can read this NF story...Nope...the Juice Ain't Worth The Squeeze.

If this ebook never comes in paper format, just one less book for me to read.

 

[Freman]

Another reason is you need a credit card to buy ebooks most places, and I've cut mine up, never to be used again.

I think, even with my credit cards, I've purchased maybe 5 ebooks tops, since they started making the damn things.

 

[Idran]

Chris, I think the argument is "the juice ain't worth the squeeze"

I'm one of those who prefer paper books over the E-books.

I'm a uber-Nelson Demille fan, and probably would read an e-book if nothing else is available.

I'm current with all the paper books for New Frontier. NF not my favorite series, but I read it and put up with the wacky/zany-ness of the characters. Am I gonna get an e-reader just I can read this NF story...Nope...the Juice Ain't Worth The Squeeze.

If this ebook never comes in paper format, just one less book for me to read.

That makes sense, yeah; that basically sums up why I won't be getting it, I don't care enough about NF at this point either. But there are more than a couple people in this thread that sound like big NF fans but are still Bartleby-ing the very idea of reading an ebook.