Are these the most current and up-to-date guidelines for attempting to write Star Trek novels for Pocket Books? http://www.twguild.com/resources/starting3.html I ask because I've heard others say things that imply fanfic authors are sometimes "scouted" (my words, not theirs) and asked to deliver an official submission, plus I can't recall which one it was, but I read one "about the author" section at the back of a Star Trek book which stated that this book was the author's first published novel. I know some of the authors come to this board, so any insight they could give is appreciated. I do write, and I apparently came within a hair's breadth of Angry Robot publishing my submission. I have had a former professional editor view a rough draft of another novel I was working on, and told me that she definitely thinks I am a professional quality writer. Unfortunately I have yet to actually have anything published.
These days, it seems, Pocket isn't as open to scouting new authors as it used to be. The current editorial preference seems to be to stick with proven talents. Your best bet is to try to establish yourself through writing and selling original fiction, get an agent, and contact Pocket through them. (Although writing original fiction is certainly worthwhile as an end in itself.)
I've spent most of my life hoping only to write original fiction. But Star Trek is the exception. It's really the only shared universe I care about to this extent. Nearly everything else I care about this much is the work of a single author. Part of my biggest problem is that I meet the barest of challenges and that makes me think I suck as a writer. I get depressed and throw out what I was working on. Getting that rejection from Angry Robot made me certain that I was terrible, until a professional in the business told me that my manuscript was likely one of only twenty or thirty chosen from a submission pool of millions that was given a full look. But I still get discouraged. I want to be a novelist more than anything but I let the weasel in too often. That weasel that whispers that writing is just a hobby, that plenty of writers more talented than I ever thought about being never see a word plod theirs published, and I need to focus on serious things.
However, I want to say thanks, Christopher, for replying. I'm still trying to move forward with my writing, trying to bring myself out of a long dry spell where I let my other concerns get the better of me.
I was inspired by the whole redshirt thing. I can only hope there will be another SNW, or something similar. I'd sign right up.
Giving the list a quick once over, I can tell you at least one thing has changed - their unwillingness to accept stories set after Generations/the TV serieses.
Those guidelines were not meant to apply to all novels, only to first-time pitchers. If you were just starting out, you had to prove you could handle the basics, and that you could follow instructions and work within a defined set of limits. The proposals submitted under those guidelines would almost never have been turned into actual novels; they were really more of an audition, since what you were selling was yourself, your own ability to write well and follow instructions. Those candidates who proved their ability would then have worked with the editors to develop new premises for actual novels. And established writers, those who'd already earned the editors' trust, were always given freedom to tell a wider range of stories than what's specified in those guidelines.
My understanding is that they still want your initial submission to be set within a TV series timeline. This isn't because that's all they'll publish (clearly) but because they want to know how well you write in general, and whether or not you can follow instructions.
I just wish they'd let me submit a story directly. I understand why they don't, but it's frustrating. I've been trying to get published for years, and have gotten very close more than once. I even had a short story published in an online mag that no longer exists. Like I said earlier, someone once said something that makes me think they were under the impression that Trek fanfic writers are sometimes recruited. Is there any truth to that whatsoever, @Christopher ?
I'm trying to figure out how to say this because I'm afraid it might sound like I think it's easier to write Star Trek novels or submit something publishable for them. I'm not at all trying to say that. Basically, as a writer, I have had the gamut of responses from agents and publishers when trying to submit my short stories and/or novels. Essentially what gets published is what the publisher is looking for at that moment. But I'm sure you know that, Christopher. I have had agents/publishers send me generic rejection form letters, but a few have sent me personalized emails where it's clear they read my submission because they refer to certain lines/scenes. In each case I'm told by them that they genuinely think the story is good, that they're confident it will get sold, just their own publishing house isn't looking for this sort of story at present. Angry Robot went under new management during the time they were looking at my story, and the editor I corresponded with (one of the more personable guys who had clearly actually read what I wrote) told me how much he personally loved it and that if it were his decision alone, my MS would have made the cut. However, they had to narrow down the submissions to a set list, and several stories they wanted to accept had to be cut. Already I mentioned the former editor (she's retired) who I know from another group who agreed to take a look at another book I'd started. She said my rough draft was incredible, and that if this is the kind of work I produce, no wonder AR editors wanted to publish my other story. I say all that to say I feel pretty confident that I have the skill level necessary and that when you combine it with my love of Star Trek, I think I have a good deal to offer. Of course I know proof would be required, which is why I really want to submit a story of my own within the set guidelines. But I can't. It wouldn't be accepted.
From the time I started submitting my work to the time I sold my first story was five and a half years. If you got paid for it, then it counts as a professional sale, even if it didn't stay in print long. I've had a story published in an online magazine that ceased to exist less than a year later -- "The Weight of Silence" in Alternative Coordinates back in 2010. I've been trying for years to find a way to get it back into print. I don't think there's any specific policy to recruit them as a class, but there have been one or two individual instances where someone who started out in fanfic ended up getting a professional gig. I think maybe Uma McCormack might've been one? That's actually a very good sign. If they're interested enough to invest the time in writing a personal rejection letter and offering specific critiques, that means they think you have potential and are hoping to help you hone your craft. Stanley Schmidt's rejection letters over the years I spent trying to get into Analog were a valuable learning experience for me, and he basically helped cultivate my talent until I got good enough to sell to him. So if those personal letters are offering specific advice, follow it! Like I probably said, your best bet is to get an agent. Rejection is a fact of the business. There are a lot more contenders than there are openings. You may have the skill, but so do a lot of other people, so just having the skill doesn't equal being entitled to succeed. It's not easy to break in, especially in a tie-in line where there's only one publisher you can go to. Besides, as I said, what you submit through the guidelines is just an audition. You're not selling them the specific story, you're selling them yourself. They're looking for someone professional that they can work with, someone who's a good team player and understands the rules rather than insisting that this time they should make an exception. In short, there's no room in this business for a sense of entitlement. You take the opportunities you can get. There will inevitably be things you want to do but never get to do, because that's life. But if you do get the opportunity to do something, even if it's not the one thing you wanted most, then make the best of it. Let your career develop in whatever way it ends up going, because any success is good even if it's not the specific one you wished for. I mean, I always hoped I'd have a dozen or more novels in print by now, but I hoped that the majority of them would be original novels. Instead, they're nearly all tie-in novels. It's not quite the career I dreamed of, but it's still a good career.
I knew I was gonna come off sounding entitled. No, I get all that you're saying. Just like I get that I'm far from the only one who might have the necessary skill to get our foot in the door. What I guess I was asking is has there ever been a possibility of an open submissions period? I understand the stories submitted would be an audition, not what actually gets published. The hunt for an agent continues. I admit, though, this past year has been tough trying to pursue writing. I spent about half of 2016 unemployed and most of 2017 trying to recover from all that unemployment. Writing seemed like something I couldn't spend as much time on as I wanted, or really any at all. I won't give up, though.
After reading Dayton Ward's take on the worst request of this kind he's ever gotten, I know better than to approach this with any kind of entitlement.
I thought it was both funny and informative, so good on you, sir. I really hope my own comments in this thread didn't come off like that guy.
Yeah, Una had the rare privilege of actually being headhunted via some of her DS9 fan fiction, which - if I recall correctly - came to the attention of Pocket's editorial team and was of such high quality it merited them reaching out to her. But: as Una herself would likely be the first to say, she's the exception to the rule (She talks about it a little here in this interview). My 2p's worth: Chris's advice in this thread and Dayton's blog show the path that has to be followed for anyone who wants to write Star Trek lit (or indeed, almost all tie-in fiction). I'd add one observation from my own experience: it's important to understand that publishers who produce tie-ins work on a different cycle to to publishers of "original" fiction and have different requirements. They don't just need writers who are good with words and who can tell a compelling story - they need writers who can deliver on time every time, who can take editorial direction well, who can work fast and clean and turn in copy that needs a minimum of revision. In short, they need writers who are a known quantity, and the only way to get that badge is to have experience. In my case, I wrote five novels and sold two pitches to Voyager before I got my first commission to write a piece of Star Trek lit, and it was another three years before I was invited to write a novel. The fact is, this biz is a marathon, not a sprint.