2 books per month to 1 per month....

[Nathan]

Ahhh....those were the good ol' days.

Does anyone miss it when Trek books came at a rate of 2 per month?

I certainly do. Usually one book was a dud (or at least a story I wasn't all that interested in) and the other one was one I was dying to read or held my interest.

I wonder if sales made it so the market was saturated with approx. 24 books coming out a year as opposed to approx. 12 per year.

You'd think if sales were booming the folks in charge would have kept it at 2 per month. I'm sure the authors would have appreciated the extra slots and even opened a few slots for the "new to Trek" authors.

Your thoughts?????

 

[Christopher]

As I recall, when there were two books a month, a lot of potential readers felt overwhelmed and intimidated by the sheer volume of books and didn't know where to start. It was kind of glutting the market, and the decision was made that a more streamlined schedule would be better. Although ST's monthly schedule still surpasses any other tie-in line, as far as I know. (I think it's twice the annual output of the Star Wars novels. I don't know about Doctor Who, though.)

 

[nickyboy]

Yep, the good ol' days.

I would like to see more than one book a month, with so many series to service the wait between installments can be really long.

I would happily embrace a schedule of one MMPB and one ebook (which can be released in dead tree format at a later date) per month.

 

[Markonian]

The only way I could see the two-book/month schedule reemerging, realistically, would be the introduction of a eBook series.

Pocket Books has been testing the waters for eBook-only releases for some time now (The Struggle Within, et. al.). If they are convinced it is a financially sound endeavour, I could see a brand-new series or a CoE revival.

And my method to cope with the quantity of Trek releases is to buy one of those hundreds of old books, or playing STO.

 

[Csalem]

Yeah I would not mind an ebook novella every month as well as a regular book release.

 

[The Wormhole]

I don't know about Doctor Who, though.

This year, Doctor Who has only had four new novels so far, with nothing else planned other than E-Books and print versions of E-Books.

 

[E-DUB]

I'd rather see one good book a month that two mediocre ones and these days the books are pretty danged good. It does make it hard to wait a month for the next installment on a continuing series. I also don't like it when a reissue counts as one of the books.

 

[Garrovick]

I feel constrained to point out that there was a time when Pocket only released a new ST novel every other month. Back then, it was all I could do to keep up with 6 novels a year. I can remember saving my extra lunch money to get together the $3.50 to get that shiny new copy of The Final Reflection on the shelf at Kroger... but I digress.

Personally (now that I have slightly more disposable income ), I'd be happy with more e-books to go alongside the current monthly schedule for full-length books. But overall I care more about quality than quantity, and the last few years the quality has been excellent.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Does anyone miss it when Trek books came at a rate of 2 per month?

I found I could get through new TOS and TNG titles over two months and the DS9 and VOY novels started to pile up.

Also: keep in mind that current novels are often almost twice the wordcount of the titles that were coming out during the two-per-month era.

 

[bbailey861]

They really were the good ol' days. I managed to keep up with the buying but I found it much harder to keep up with the reading. I didn't mind, though - in fact I am still in that predicament. I would not mind seeing an extra book or two published during select periods of the year. Maybe just prior to the summer holiday period (reading season) and Nov/Dec (Christmas season).

 

[Ktrek]

The only way we would probably ever see a two a month schedule again would be if Star Trek had a real revival of interest but as far as I can tell (having been a fan for over 40 years) fandom has been on the decline for quite a while now. Although many people in the general public enjoyed the Abrams Star Trek films it really has not generated a new generation of caring fans. The only hope Star Trek has is in the creation of an outstanding show that would be able to develop a new hardcore following, which would then likely create renewed interest in what has gone before.

Personally I like the book a month with more content but I would also enjoy a book and novella a month. My biggest complaint is that the last two years have had way way too much TOS on the schedule and very few of those are even worth the paper they are printed on (no offense to any authors intended).

Kevin

 

[Therin of Andor]

Although many people in the general public enjoyed the Abrams Star Trek films it really has not generated a new generation of caring fans.

Based upon what evidence?

CBS did announce that it was happily surprised that sales of all ST series and movie boxed sets had soared after the theatrical release of the 2009 "Star Trek" movie.

How do you know the new fans are not "caring"? The ones I've met have been passionate, and sometimes bewildered to hear some longer-standing fans berating JJ Abrams.

I recall being told - often - that I was not a "true" fan in 1980, because I dared to say that I loved ST:TMP. I ended up outlasting many of our club's "first fandom" members.

My biggest complaint is that the last two years have had way way too much TOS on the schedule and very few of those are even worth the paper they are printed on (no offense to any authors intended).

Sounds offensive to me! "Very few"? Really?

Why are there so many new TOS books? They sell the most copies.

 

[Christopher]

I feel constrained to point out that there was a time when Pocket only released a new ST novel every other month.

True. It went up to one per month once TNG books started (so you had half-dozen of year of each of the two series) and to two per month by the time VGR books arrived.

Also: keep in mind that current novels are often almost twice the wordcount of the titles that were coming out during the two-per-month era.

That's no longer true. These days a typical novel is more in the 80,000-word range than the 100,000-plus range that was common under Marco Palmieri's tenure. I think it's a budget thing -- due to inflation, it would cost more to make books that long so they'd have to charge more. So the typical book now is about the same size as the typical book from the '90s, or maybe a little bit longer. Certainly nowhere near twice the size.

 

[Scout101]

I read really fast, so enjoyed the 2-a-month schedule. Suppose the increase in quality is worth some dropoff in rate, though. Only takes me a few days to burn through a new book, so having them come faster was nice. Other good part was that they were (almost?) always different series, so you'd get a better chance of getting one you were interested in.

Now if it's TOS's turn in the schedule, and you don't like TOS (just an example, it's my favorite), you lose that month. Before, there would be a TOS and a TNG book, so you could pick the one you like, or read both, or whatnot.

With the slow schedule, and the big increase in number of series out there, we can go a year or more without seeing the crew we're looking for. Might be a heavy TOS year, but no DS9. Maybe you get a VOY book this year, maybe not. Harder to stay with it if you don't like them all...

 

[Relayer1]

I'd like a few more but not twoper month. I've got other things to read and my pile keeps growing.

Two one month and one the next would be O.K. - it may mean we don't get long stretches of just one series like this years TOS marathon..

 

[Therin of Andor]

So the typical book now is about the same size as the typical book from the '90s, or maybe a little bit longer. Certainly nowhere near twice the size.

Today's books are definitely thicker, with much thinner paper and sometimes very small font - and they take me much longer to read - so they are definitely somewhat longer than the days of the two-per-month novels. In those earlier days, the books also often had a preview chapter of the next hardcover. Plus the several pages of booklist.

 

[Christopher]

^All I can tell you is, my last few novel contracts have specified the 70 to 80,000-word range, 85,000 tops. I haven't been contracted for a 100K novel since Watching the Clock.

 

[E-DUB]

Maybe a "baker's dozen" approach. One book a month all year, then an extra one in Dec.

 

[jpv2000]

The way my finances have been lately I'm glad of the slowed pace. I hope that changes in the near future.

I mainly follow only a few of the series novels as well so it's fairly easy to stay caught up.

 

[Reanok]

So the typical book now is about the same size as the typical book from the '90s, or maybe a little bit longer. Certainly nowhere near twice the size.

Today's books are definitely thicker, with much thinner paper and sometimes very small font - and they take me much longer to read - so they are definitely somewhat longer than the days of the two-per-month novels. In those earlier days, the books also often had a preview chapter of the next hardcover. Plus the several pages of booklist.

Ditto I like the longer length stories but the small print in the novels takes me a longer time to read them.I've enjoyed the Tos books that have come out this year and The Enterprise novel. I really look forward to read the Tng/Ds9 crossovers .When they had 2 books coming out in a month they sold out so quickly it was hard to get copies of some the ds9 novels back in the day and all the different Startrek miniseries as a complete set of books.It's taken me along time to find some of the books to complete the mini series books I have in my collection.