Author Habits That Annoy You

[KRAD]

Tie-in book lines always start with the publisher, not the writer. In order for a tie-in book to happen, first a publisher has to buy the rights to do books based on that property. Then they reach out to authors -- or, sometimes, authors reach out to them. But the process for tie-ins is almost always the same: the author has to write an outline that is approved by the copyright-holder before a single word of the novel is written.

I don't know about the Reynolds Who book, but in the case of Jim Butcher, that came about because Simon & Schuster got the rights to do Marvel novels in 2004, and one of the editors handling the line was Jennifer Heddle, who was the editor who pulled Jim's first Harry Dresden book off the slush pile at Roc Books and said "we should publish this." In the interim, she moved over to S&S, and she knew Jim was a huge-ass Spidey fan and said, "Hey, you wanna write a Spidey novel?"

Also, apologies to @hbquikcomjamesl for misunderstanding his on-spec comment.

 

[KRAD]

Meant to reply to this sooner:

Now, my previous mention of the Errand of Fury trilogy was an egregious example of this. It was literally strewn everywhere throughout the books, and if I had to guess, if the books had actually been edited well (which they weren't), then perhaps the editor would have flagged this as being just too over-the-top. Luckily the second set of Ryan's books didn't have this problem and were edited far better.

I was the editor of the second trilogy, so you're welcome.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I don't think you'd actually call it, I don't know, "Worf Dax slash" verbally in conversation.

There is also "shipping", as in relationship.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I can't recall seeing multiple ink colors used in a prose book in print. And it probably wouldn't work in an e-book either, since e-readers can be individually set to display the user's choice of color scheme, so I'm not sure you could encode a special color that would show up the intended way in every scheme.

Plus some people can't see/distinguish colors as well as others, so font shapes would probably be easier to differentiate between speakers, or languages. Most books use italic or bold to mark speech in other languages, or show the (approximate) translation of other human/alien languages.

 

[Greg Cox]

Plus some people can't see/distinguish colors as well as others, so font shapes would probably be easier to differentiate between speakers, or languages. Most books use italic or bold to mark speech in other languages, or show the (approximate) translation of other human/alien languages.

The first editions of THE PRINCESS BRIDE (long before the movie version) featured some passages in red ink. These were changed to italics in subsequent printings.

The red-ink version is now a valuable collector's item.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I find it annoying that the authors keep providing more entertaining Star Trek fiction than I can reasonably afford.

 

[DonIago]

I find it annoying that the authors keep providing more entertaining Star Trek fiction than I can reasonably afford.

Thank you. Thank you for saying it!

The authors are all awful, and they should feel awful!

Love you authors! Keep putting out awesome Trek!!! <3 <3 <3

 

[JD]

Tie-in book lines always start with the publisher, not the writer. In order for a tie-in book to happen, first a publisher has to buy the rights to do books based on that property. Then they reach out to authors -- or, sometimes, authors reach out to them. But the process for tie-ins is almost always the same: the author has to write an outline that is approved by the copyright-holder before a single word of the novel is written.

I don't know about the Reynolds Who book, but in the case of Jim Butcher, that came about because Simon & Schuster got the rights to do Marvel novels in 2004, and one of the editors handling the line was Jennifer Heddle, who was the editor who pulled Jim's first Harry Dresden book off the slush pile at Roc Books and said "we should publish this." In the interim, she moved over to S&S, and she knew Jim was a huge-ass Spidey fan and said, "Hey, you wanna write a Spidey novel?"

Also, apologies to @hbquikcomjamesl for misunderstanding his on-spec comment.

Oh, OK thanks for the info.

 

[nightwind1]

The dedication plaques on the bridges of various ships, referencing Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, etc. would beg to differ.

Nobody can see those, though.

 

[flandry84]

Dunno if they are shoutouts to friends/fans but whenever a scene is set on a “guest ship”, the bizarre practice of naming every single crew member on the bridge.

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

Plus some people can't see/distinguish colors as well as others, so font shapes would probably be easier to differentiate between speakers, or languages. Most books use italic or bold to mark speech in other languages, or show the (approximate) translation of other human/alien languages.

Different, distinguishable font-shapes? Now *that* is a cool idea.

The first editions of THE PRINCESS BRIDE (long before the movie version) featured some passages in red ink. These were changed to italics in subsequent printings.

The red-ink version is now a valuable collector's item.

Like I said: I own a copy of Michael Endes book "Die Unendliche Geschichte" (Neverending Story) and there, we have different font-colors to show the different location.

Dunno if they are shoutouts to friends/fans but whenever a scene is set on a “guest ship”, the bizarre practice of naming every single crew member on the bridge.

That one is understandable, however. So, we have the feeling, that this 'guest ship' is part of a lived in world and not just a 'ship, where stuff happens, so our hero ship can swoop in and save the day'.

 

[Airin]

Like I said: I own a copy of Michael Endes book "Die Unendliche Geschichte" (Neverending Story) and there, we have different font-colors to show the different location.

I remember that too. Red and green ink to separate between the world outside and inside the book.

 

[Christopher]

That one is understandable, however. So, we have the feeling, that this 'guest ship' is part of a lived in world and not just a 'ship, where stuff happens, so our hero ship can swoop in and save the day'.

Right. Not everything in a book, movie, show, etc. has to be plot-relevant. Some things are just about making the world and characters feel believably textured and detailed.

Although it is important to strike a balance and not put in so many irrelevant details that they become distracting or confusing. In my Arachne duology (soon to be a trilogy), I initially made a point of establishing the names of every one of the 48 crewmembers of the human starship, but I came to realize that most of them were only mentioned in passing once or twice and were just confusing. I decided it worked better to limit it to the characters I actually had something to say about, though there were still a few minor background players in the mix, just enough to give some texture and a glimpse of how the various crewmembers were living their lives.

I remember that too. Red and green ink to separate between the world outside and inside the book.

Odd that they'd choose the specific colors that would discriminate most against color-blind people. Why not, say, black and blue ink?

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

Right. Not everything in a book, movie, show, etc. has to be plot-relevant. Some things are just about making the world and characters feel believably textured and detailed.

Although it is important to strike a balance and not put in so many irrelevant details that they become distracting or confusing. In my Arachne duology (soon to be a trilogy), I initially made a point of establishing the names of every one of the 48 crewmembers of the human starship, but I came to realize that most of them were only mentioned in passing once or twice and were just confusing. I decided it worked better to limit it to the characters I actually had something to say about, though there were still a few minor background players in the mix, just enough to give some texture and a glimpse of how the various crewmembers were living their lives.

I mean, if you use the characters for window-dressing, you can make them look good in the process, right? ^^

Odd that they'd choose the specific colors that would discriminate most against color-blind people. Why not, say, black and blue ink?

Well, my copy is from the last milennium. ^^ I think either mid- century or two thirds in the last century, so... apparently they didn't think this thing through, back in the days. ^^ But you're right and thanks for bringing it up. I use blue and green for different sceneries in my fanfic (blue for dreams, green for the past) and red is used, when my character talks in his native language, and mostly, because red is my favourite colour. ^^ So... I'll think of other colours. ^^

 

[Christopher]

Well, my copy is from the last milennium. ^^ I think either mid- century or two thirds in the last century, so... apparently they didn't think this thing through, back in the days. ^^

Scientific studies of color blindness date back to the 1790s. The most common color blindness test, the Ishihara test, was introduced in 1917. So the publication date is hardly an excuse. At least, it's not that they had less knowledge of the issue then, just that the culture cared less about accommodating disabilities. But in this case, it's like they went out of their way to make things hard on color-blind people.

 

[Ronald Held]

And, again, I throw in the disclaimer that I'm an old guy who started working in publishing when we still used typewriters, not computers, so I don't claim to be on the cutting-edge of modern trends in book publishing.

Not certain Mr. Cox is that old, as I recall using a mechanical typewriter.

 

[Greg Cox]

That one is understandable, however. So, we have the feeling, that this 'guest ship' is part of a lived in world and not just a 'ship, where stuff happens, so our hero ship can swoop in and save the day'.

Exactly. And a lot depends on who the POV character is. Would they know these people's names or not?

By coincidence, I was just writing a scene yesterday that involved a random ensign and a yeoman. These are just background characters and I debated whether they actually needed names or not, but then I figured Kirk would know their names so, fine, Ensign Wells and Yeoman Monroe it was. I didn't describe them or give their life stories, but Kirk knowing their names felt more believable to me than just describing them as "an ensign" or "a yeoman."

Plus, sometimes giving a character a name is less distracting than keeping them nameless. I recently edited a novel where "a pretty blonde barmaid" kept popping up periodically, whenever our heroes swung by the local watering-hole. Understand that she was basically just a background character who played no real role in the plot, but after "the pretty blonde barmaid" popped up for the fifteenth time, I finally told the author:

"Just give her a name already."

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

Not certain Mr. Cox is that old, as I recall using a mechanical typewriter.

Oh, we had "Textverarbeitung" in school - that meant: Learning how to touch-type. 10 Fingers - blind. No tipp-ex, no delete-key... the mistake was there, the mistake was there to stay. Fortunately, that changed in the second year, where we were 'introduced' to the PC.

Exactly. And a lot depends on who the POV character is. Would they know these people's names or not?

By coincidence, I was just writing a scene yesterday that involved a random ensign and a yeoman. These are just background characters and I debated whether they actually needed names or not, but then I figured Kirk would know their names so, fine, Ensign Wells and Yeoman Monroe it was. I didn't describe them or give their life stories, but Kirk knowing their names felt more believable to me than just describing them as "an ensign" or "a yeoman."

Plus, sometimes giving a character a name is less distracting than keeping them nameless. I recently edited a novel where "a pretty blonde barmaid" kept popping periodically, whenever our heroes swung by the local watering-hole. Understand that she was basically just a background character who played no real role in the plot, but after "the pretty blonde barmaid" popped up for the fifteenth time, I finally told the author:

"Just give her a name already."

That is the point. It is quite the difference, if you read a scene from - say - Underworld, and you're just reading about the 'hot blonde vampire', or if you give her a name. The hot blonde vampire does this, the hot blonde vampire does that, the hot blonde vampire talks to Kraven, wants in his pants, is angry at Selene... But if you give her a name (Erika), you can vary.

 

[Greg Cox]

Oh, we had "Textverarbeitung" in school - that meant: Learning how to touch-type. 10 Fingers - blind. No tipp-ex, no delete-key... the mistake was there, the mistake was there to stay. Fortunately, that changed in the second year, where we were 'introduced' to the PC.




That is the point. It is quite the difference, if you read a scene from - say - Underworld, and you're just reading about the 'hot blonde vampire', or if you give her a name. The hot blonde vampire does this, the hot blonde vampire does that, the hot blonde vampire talks to Kraven, wants in his pants, is angry at Selene... But if you give her a name (Erika), you can vary.

As I recall, Erika's name was specified in the script .

And I still don't believe that she's really dead since we never actually saw her die in the first movie . . .

 

[Airin]

Scientific studies of color blindness date back to the 1790s. The most common color blindness test, the Ishihara test, was introduced in 1917. So the publication date is hardly an excuse. At least, it's not that they had less knowledge of the issue then, just that the culture cared less about accommodating disabilities. But in this case, it's like they went out of their way to make things hard on color-blind people.

My edition must have been from the 80's or so. I don't think the thought even crossed their minds that there are color-blind people in the world, when they edited the book that way. The same with people who use wheelchairs. It's evident for anyone that those people can't use stairs, yet they only started building ramps in buildings yesterday, so to speak.