2018 Releases

[Paul Weaver]

No news is good news

 

[Jarrod]

so... nothing new yet for 2018

Someone at the The Star Trek Books Community Group on FB mentioned that this bears similarity to when the Doctor Who audio dramas (Doctor Who: The Monthly Range) ended when the new series started back in 2005..

I was indeed referring to the monthly novels (The EDAs and PDAs at that point) and how they were ended after the 2005 series came on. Nothing was announced to the public until the month the last one was published. And even then it was just a small paragraph in Doctor Who Magazine that made the announcement. ("Oh By The Way, this month's releases are the last ones.")

 

[Stevil2001]

I was mentioning what a member of the FB group said, and I think he did mean the PDA and EDA novel lines.

I wasn't criticizing you.

Maybe he meant novels? IIRC, the Eighth Doctor Past Doctor lines from BBC Books did end in 2005 because of the show's return.

I was indeed referring to the monthly novels (The EDAs and PDAs at that point) and how they were ended after the 2005 series came on. Nothing was announced to the public until the month the last one was published. And even then it was just a small paragraph in Doctor Who Magazine that made the announcement. ("Oh By The Way, this month's releases are the last ones.")

I think there's little incentive to a publisher to announce a negative change like this. When S&S went from two mass market Star Trek paperbacks a month to one, they didn't announce it. Marco Palmieri just commented on it once someone on this site noticed that the schedule was thin. (But these days no S&S editors hang out here.)

If I recall correctly the EDAs and PDAs were ended because of sales. Not that their sales were terrible, but that it was clear that the new series novels would massively outsell them, but they cost the same amount to produce. Why spend x to make 2x when you could spend x to make 5x?

 

[RonG]

All's cool Stevil2001

I hope, of course, for new details (about new novels) for 2018 (in the current TrekLit Pocket Books continuity, naturally), but would appreciate a definite update either way..

 

[Defcon]

I wonder if the latest rescheduling of the Voyager novel wasn't actually because of deadline problems, but was decided after it was clear the second Discovery novel would come out in February to spread out the titles they can publish under the current contract more to not have too long a pause until “new contract“ novels can be published.

 

[Christopher]

I wonder if the latest rescheduling of the Voyager novel wasn't actually because of deadline problems, but was decided after it was clear the second Discovery novel would come out in February to spread out the titles they can publish under the current contract more to not have too long a pause until “new contract“ novels can be published.

I'm sure it was because Kirsten is so busy on Discovery. Being on a TV writing staff is a full-time job. Some years back, David A. Goodman was going to write a novel about Will Decker, but he had to abandon it because he became a staffer on Family Guy (I think it was) and just didn't have the time.

 

[ATimson]

If I recall correctly the EDAs and PDAs were ended because of sales. Not that their sales were terrible, but that it was clear that the new series novels would massively outsell them, but they cost the same amount to produce. Why spend x to make 2x when you could spend x to make 5x?

Given the attendant cut in frequency with the NSAs, it's more like spending only 0.4x to make the same 2x.

 

[Stevil2001]

Given the attendant cut in frequency with the NSAs, it's more like spending only 0.4x to make the same 2x.

Heh, true.

 

[ryan123450]

I wonder if the latest rescheduling of the Voyager novel wasn't actually because of deadline problems, but was decided after it was clear the second Discovery novel would come out in February to spread out the titles they can publish under the current contract more to not have too long a pause until “new contract“ novels can be published.

I figured the same thing. If not at least a combination of the two.

 

[JD]

Anyone know if any of the current editors communicate with fans on social media? They'd probably be the best people to get answers from.
I really miss the days when Marco and Margaret posted here.

 

[DimesDan]

Anyone know if any of the current editors communicate with fans on social media? They'd probably be the best people to get answers from.
I really miss the days when Marco and Margaret posted here.

Are you on Twitter? You could try.

 

[Defcon]

I'm sure it was because Kirsten is so busy on Discovery. Being on a TV writing staff is a full-time job. Some years back, David A. Goodman was going to write a novel about Will Decker, but he had to abandon it because he became a staffer on Family Guy (I think it was) and just didn't have the time.

It's just kind of strange that there were two delays within a span of three weeks. I feel a competent editor/publisher wouldn't have to delay a book twice within such a short time-frame for the same reason. One would assume he/she/they would wait until it is relatively clear when Kirsten will be able to deliver the manuscript until they make the delay of an already twice delayed book public. So me assuming there is another reason actually is a sign of respect towards those making those decisions ...

Are you on Twitter? You could try.

@ed_schlesinger is the twitter handle for Ed Schlesinger.https://twitter.com/ed_schlesinger

 

[ryan123450]

Ive tried to talk to Ed Scheshinger (probably misspelled that) on Twitter before. No response. Margaret Clark doesn’t seem to have any social media presence.

 

[Defcon]

Ive tried to talk to Ed Scheshinger (probably misspelled that) on Twitter before. No response. Margaret Clark doesn’t seem to have any social media presence.

FWIW He replied once to me when I wanted to know how to report one of those infringement books* on Amazon and tagged him and John van Citters. So I guess it is hit or miss (and depending on the topic) if he answers. I would guess this is one of those cases where he wouldn't reply, as I would assume he wouldn't tell someone on twitter about Pocket's plans before the company has put out a press release or something.

(* In the end I DM'ed the link to the book to JvC and it was gone a day or two later).

 

[Christopher]

It's just kind of strange that there were two delays within a span of three weeks. I feel a competent editor/publisher wouldn't have to delay a book twice within such a short time-frame for the same reason. One would assume he/she/they would wait until it is relatively clear when Kirsten will be able to deliver the manuscript until they make the delay of an already twice delayed book public.

See, that's the problem -- "relatively clear." Keep in mind that Discovery's production was delayed extensively from the original plans. So the schedule kept changing. Things might've been in flux on the show's end.

And postponing a book's release date isn't something you can do casually. It creates a lot of problems. As a rule, if a publisher makes plans to release something on a certain date, that's a commitment to vendors and distributors and promoters and so forth, and it disrupts a lot of stuff if the date can't be met. At least, that's my understanding. Case in point -- Diane Duane was originally supposed to revive/finish her Rihannsu series in a duology, Swordhunt and The Empty Chair. It turned out she couldn't complete the second volume on schedule, but Pocket had promised to release a second book, so Swordhunt was split into two volumes and published as Swordhunt and Honor Blade.

So it seems to me that delaying a book isn't something Pocket would do if they could avoid it. It's not some arbitrary change they could make just to even out the gap until the next book, because it would mean breaking a commitment to release a book on the announced schedule. So I don't think it's something they could do unless they had no choice, unless the completion of the book was delayed by factors beyond Pocket's control. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.

 

[Defcon]

See, that's the problem -- "relatively clear." Keep in mind that Discovery's production was delayed extensively from the original plans. So the schedule kept changing. Things might've been in flux on the show's end.

And postponing a book's release date isn't something you can do casually. It creates a lot of problems. As a rule, if a publisher makes plans to release something on a certain date, that's a commitment to vendors and distributors and promoters and so forth, and it disrupts a lot of stuff if the date can't be met. At least, that's my understanding. Case in point -- Diane Duane was originally supposed to revive/finish her Rihannsu series in a duology, Swordhunt and The Empty Chair. It turned out she couldn't complete the second volume on schedule, but Pocket had promised to release a second book, so Swordhunt was split into two volumes and published as Swordhunt and Honor Blade.

So it seems to me that delaying a book isn't something Pocket would do if they could avoid it. It's not some arbitrary change they could make just to even out the gap until the next book, because it would mean breaking a commitment to release a book on the announced schedule. So I don't think it's something they could do unless they had no choice, unless the completion of the book was delayed by factors beyond Pocket's control. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.

O.K., Kind of counter-productive to have to do that (break the commitment) twice within a time-frame of three weeks for the same reason, though.

Maybe it's just me, but if I had to delay the book anyway (for the third time!) I would pick a date with additional wiggle room if something else happens because of Kirsten's commitment to the TV show, so I wouldn't have to delay again a couple of weeks later.

 

[Christopher]

O.K., Kind of counter-productive to have to do that (break the commitment) twice within a time-frame of three weeks for the same reason, though.

Exactly my point. They wouldn't do it by choice -- only if it was due to circumstances beyond their control.

 

[Defcon]

So what we have worked out her is that whoever made these decisions made an unwise choice to not choose a later date for that first (third) delay given the volatile nature of Kirsten's available time for this project, I guess.

 

[JD]

Are you on Twitter? You could try.

No, I don't do social media anymore. I probably would have tried by now if I did though.

FWIW He replied once to me when I wanted to know how to report one of those infringement books* on Amazon and tagged him and John van Citters. So I guess it is hit or miss (and depending on the topic) if he answers. I would guess this is one of those cases where he wouldn't reply, as I would assume he wouldn't tell someone on twitter about Pocket's plans before the company has put out a press release or something.

(* In the end I DM'ed the link to the book to JvC and it was gone a day or two later).

Good point, although Trek books don't always get big announcements, so there'd be a better chance of getting an answer tan if this was something like A Song of Ice and Fire (aka the Game of Thrones books. Hell, at this point even just "we will be making an announcement at a future date" would be nice.

 

[David Weller]

FWIW

I have a contact on Twitter who runs a commercial SF news/reviews website

He tells me that he knows that at least 3 Trek novels are currently works in progress

IMO, Pocket wouldn’t be continuing work on these novels if they weren’t sure that the contract would be renewed