Babylon 5 Script Book Project to be Revealed !

[Harvey]

I mean seriously, what's the market for this? About a dozen people?

And so a dozen people will pick them up. Since they're a print on demand series, I don't see what the complaint is. It's not like the Crusade books are dependent on this. As Jan said, they will be coming out as soon as JMS has the time. Until then, you can buy these new books, or not. I'm not buying them. Move on, nothing to see.

 

[Jan]

Woah woah woah. Jan in kneejerk defense of JMS shocker.

I don't think so...I didn't realize he needed defending.
Jan

 

[OmahaStar]

Woah woah woah. Jan in kneejerk defense of JMS shocker.

Hey now, be nice to her. She's my friend and is just a middle-man here.

Bash JMS all you want, though.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I do have a question, Jan, that I hope you can answer. What does God need with a star -- oh, sorry, wrong question.

Humor aside:

If the purpose of this collection is to preserve the conversation between JMS and fans, then is this also going to be a limited edition like the other script books? Or will it be something available so long as there is interest?

 

[OmahaStar]

I do have a question, Jan, that I hope you can answer. What does God need with a star -- oh, sorry, wrong question.

Humor aside:

If the purpose of this collection is to preserve the conversation between JMS and fans, then is this also going to be a limited edition like the other script books? Or will it be something available so long as there is interest?

On the live feed, Jac said this would not be limited, it would be an open edition just as with the quote book and chronology.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

^Thanks.

 

[Jan]

I do have a question, Jan, that I hope you can answer. What does God need with a star -- oh, sorry, wrong question.

Humor aside:

If the purpose of this collection is to preserve the conversation between JMS and fans, then is this also going to be a limited edition like the other script books? Or will it be something available so long as there is interest?

On the live feed, Jac said this would not be limited, it would be an open edition just as with the quote book and chronology.

To clarify just a bit, Jaclyn seemed pretty sure that it was probably going to be available for the long term like the Chronology and Quote book are but I don't know for certain that that's cast in stone as yet.

Jan

 

[OmahaStar]

^ She didn't sound "pretty sure." She was asked directly by Summer and said without hesitation that it would be available long term just like the chronology and quote book, and not in a limited edition.

But then, she also gave a date of April 1, and we found out she "misspoke" and meant April 7th.

 

[Jan]

^ She didn't sound "pretty sure." She was asked directly by Summer and said without hesitation that it would be available long term just like the chronology and quote book, and not in a limited edition.

What I rememeber is her saying that she didn't imagine that it would be limited. I'm sure we'll find out when the podcast is posted.

But then, she also gave a date of April 1, and we found out she "misspoke" and meant April 7th.

Yes, she made a mistake. Do you have some kind of issue with that with the "misspoke" in quotes that way?

Jan

 

[TerriO]

Woah woah woah. Jan in kneejerk defense of JMS shocker.

Hey now, be nice to her. She's my friend and is just a middle-man here.

Bash JMS all you want, though.

Welcome to my world.

This is just a sad money grab if ever I saw one. There's a reason that books like the Trek encyclopedia aren't updated. Why would anyone pay for a book when they can get the same information for free on the web?

And as someone who knows about the early Genie "conversations", where if you weren't a cheerleader or expressed any doubt whatsoever about the concept, you were excoriated by the die-hard fans, why would I want to read anything involving that? (And that comes straight from someone who was excoriated online for expressing simple doubts about the viability of the concept.)

Seriously, from the perspective of someone working to start their own small press, if I were the editor, the ultimate question that would need to be answered for me here is "what motivation is there for people to buy this book?" How much of an appeal is this book potentially going to have? Why should fandom (a lot of whom were there when these conversations took place) care about this if they've already been through it? I mean, I was there for every renewal fight. I was at the Blackpool con when Claudia Christian quit the show. I was at the con where the prank got pulled on JMS that precipitated the infamous Londo/G'Kar scene. Why should the fans (and I include myself in that, as one of the First Ones) be even remotely interested in re-living this "conversation"? Those who are could get the information without spending a dime beyond their regular Internet connection.

Your profit and loss statement on this end of the project would be interesting to see.

Oh, wait, or are you guys using Cafepress again? That changes the P/L completely. Just from a business perspective, this particular end of the project reeks of Bad Idea.

 

[OmahaStar]

^ She didn't sound "pretty sure." She was asked directly by Summer and said without hesitation that it would be available long term just like the chronology and quote book, and not in a limited edition.

What I rememeber is her saying that she didn't imagine that it would be limited. I'm sure we'll find out when the podcast is posted.

But then, she also gave a date of April 1, and we found out she "misspoke" and meant April 7th.

Yes, she made a mistake. Do you have some kind of issue with that with the "misspoke" in quotes that way?

Jan

If she's wrong about something as simple as a date, what else is she wrong about? And yes, I have issues with this entire fiasco, beginning to end. I'd happily say so to JMS's face, too. There is not one shred of honesty here. This is not "for the fans" this is a "fuck you!" to the fans.

 

[OmahaStar]

Woah woah woah. Jan in kneejerk defense of JMS shocker.

Hey now, be nice to her. She's my friend and is just a middle-man here.

Bash JMS all you want, though.

Welcome to my world.

It took a long time, but yeah, I've crossed over. I am still a huge fan of Babylon 5. As for the guy who created it? Not after this. And there is NO coming back after something like this. It's a betrayal, really.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Yes, this is something that "I never knew I wanted and had to have," but this is really something I never wanted and see no need to have. Hell, I'd rather pay for PODs of JMS three out-of-print novels than this but that's just me.

Now give me a better incentive like the 200-300 page document and I might bite.

 

[Daddy Todd]

You indicate that these books will be formatted as some sort of "conversation." Does that mean you'll be publishing the posts that provoked JMS's responses? How are you going to track down and compensate the writers of the other side of that conversation, after all this time?

You ARE planning on compensating ALL contributors to these volumes, right? You wouldn't just appropriate the words from the creators of those old posts, sell them, and hand the profits over to JMS, would you?

Cause that would be, like, stealing. And you'd never do that, right?

 

[Jan]

You indicate that these books will be formatted as some sort of "conversation." Does that mean you'll be publishing the posts that provoked JMS's responses? How are you going to track down and compensate the writers of the other side of that conversation, after all this time?

You ARE planning on compensating ALL contributors to these volumes, right? You wouldn't just appropriate the words from the creators of those old posts, sell them, and hand the profits over to JMS, would you?

Cause that would be, like, stealing. And you'd never do that, right?

Nope. Sure wouldn't. Yes, the format is exactly what the title says: Asked and Answered. No we're not using anybody else's copyrighted posts. Not even mine.

Any other questions?

Jan

 

[OmahaStar]

Sure. How, precisely, is it a "conversation" when it's entirely one-sided? You're now saying it's only JMS's words. That's not a conversation in any stretch of the imagination. That's one person talking.

You're loosing your temper over this. Now imagine how the rest of us - you know, ordinary fans - feel.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I mean seriously, what's the market for this? About a dozen people?

And so a dozen people will pick them up. Since they're a print on demand series, I don't see what the complaint is.

No "complaints" at all, at least not from me. If someone wants to buy these books, more power to them. I was only speculating about whether there was any real market to justify publishing them, even on a print-on-demand basis. For someone of JMSs stature, it just doesn't seem worth the bother.

As I said before, I'm a big B5 fan and have an enormous respect for JMSs' work on a variety of projects. While I didn't buy any of the script books, I could at least understand that there was a market (admittedly a small one) for those. And even so, this one just seems weird. It smacks of a certain type of hucksterism that frankly I am a bit suprised to see coming from someone of his accomplishments. I could see Sky Conway or other fringe sci-fi figures getting into this type of business, but not JMS.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, though, and assume that he thinks there's a legitimate demand for a multi-volume collection of his online musings, and that he is doing this to serve that market while making a much-deserved profit for himself.

 

[Neroon]

Folks... please simmer down. There are obviously a diverging set of opinions on this, but it's not necessary to make things this tense of an issue that does not warrant it.

 

[Jan]

Sure. How, precisely, is it a "conversation" when it's entirely one-sided? You're now saying it's only JMS's words. That's not a conversation in any stretch of the imagination. That's one person talking.

I happen to know that you are aware that the books are titled "Asked and Answered." Work it out or wait for the sample pages.

You're loosing your temper over this. Now imagine how the rest of us - you know, ordinary fans - feel.

help@babylon5scripts.com is where you should be commenting if you actually want to address this effectively.

Jan

 

[OmahaStar]

Sure. How, precisely, is it a "conversation" when it's entirely one-sided? You're now saying it's only JMS's words. That's not a conversation in any stretch of the imagination. That's one person talking.

I happen to know that you are aware that the books are titled "Asked and Answered." Work it out or wait for the sample pages.

Of course I'm aware of the title. It's interesting that you put all the emphasis on the second half of the title. Is it not just as important to emphasize the first half? "Asked" ... But you and the others in the team have already said this is only JMS's words, not those of the people asking the questions. And since you wouldn't alter JMS's words, how is it even possible to have someone ask anything?

It's the same as I already pointed out ... since this is only his responses, his words, his side, there is no "conversation" at all.

And you bring up the sample pages, this is something that's going on sale in just a month, and they haven't even figured out the layout yet.

Unless there is something absolutely amazing that they've forgotten to tell us about, I fail to understand the very point of these books.