Publishing question - no eyerolling - LOL

[Adam Holmberg]

This is a weird Catch-22...if there were 2 novels per month we could have a Vanguard, a Voyager, and more DS9 in 2010. But...a lot of fans don't want any more than we have.

I am honestly...I still think the line should be two novels, simply because there are so many different series. I'm of the opinion DS9 has to jump ahead simply because...even if it didn't...at the rate the books are coming out, it'll be 2020 before we get a satisfying conclusion to anything.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I am honestly...I still think the line should be two novels, simply because there are so many different series.

Word counts have increased dramatically in recent years. Would you also have the books go back to being the slim things of the 80s?

Doubling the editorial staff, to handle twice as many books, is not going to produce double profits for Pocket Books.

 

[MargaretClark]

Some quick points:

No other licensed book line has one mass market per month and average of 4 trades per year. That’s 16 Trek books a year!

The marketplace that all publishers now sell to has changed radically since the early ‘90s. There are fewer book stores and that means fewer “slots” for our reps to sell into. (English: fewer stores=less books brought=fewer books scheduled)

And there was an overall downsizing here at S&S, that also included sales. So, I do look at the schedule and try to give the rep (who most likely is NOT a Star Trek fan, shocking but true) something that will get the buyer’s attention when they are selling and break through the noise and get their attention. (The mini-seasons for 2010: Classic Trek, New Trek, Pepsi [or Original Series, JJ, and Twenty-fourth Century (Pepsi ‘cause it’s younger then Coke]).

And to the poster who said Margaret and her staff…it is just me, myself and I. (And I do a number of books that are not Trek)

Just lurking.

Margaret

 

[Paris]

^It's just you? No assistant editors? That's wild. When did you sleep last?

-thanks for posting, Margaret. We always like to hear from TPTB

 

[Therin of Andor]

And to the poster who said Margaret and her staff…it is just me, myself and I. (And I do a number of books that are not Trek)

Hi Margaret! Thanks for everything you do. You can officially have the thanks I was planning to offer to your staff as well.

 

[Greg Cox]

Some quick points:


(And I do a number of books that are not Trek)



Margaret

Like (ahem) the 4400 novels . . . .

 

[JD]

And to the poster who said Margaret and her staff…it is just me, myself and I. (And I do a number of books that are not Trek)

Just lurking.

Margaret

Wow, you must be one very busy woman.

 

[terpette]

And to the poster who said Margaret and her staff…it is just me, myself and I. (And I do a number of books that are not Trek)

Clearly, you need some staff!

And I need to figure out who to talk to at the public library to make sure Trek novels are ordered in a timely manner. I just can't afford new books every month, whether it's one title or two. I have enough trouble with the magazines and the comic books. My DH (dear husband) was paying for the comics, but then his hours got reduced at work in May. Damn economy.

Karen

 

[Therin of Andor]

Clearly, you need some staff!

Margaret did have, until the cost-cutting at S&S last November.