I've been reading the James Blish adaptations here and there. I have all 12 plus the "Mudd's Angels" collection written by his wife after his death (which I just started reading).
Anyway, one thing I found interesting was the forward to Star Trek 3. In it he notes how at the time he would get letters from readers, some asking how they could write for Star Trek.
I found his response interesting because a number of our current authors have noted much the same thing, indicating not much has changed in that regard in the last 40 or 50 years. Basically he said, first of all, he didn't have any real secret access, other than to scripts so he could do his collections. He noted he maybe saw Gene Roddenberry 2 or 3 times at conventions like everyone else, but otherwise never interacted with him up to that point.
But what was really interesting is his response about writing for Star Trek itself. He noted that you basically couldn't. If he, or anyone involved with the show, received any unsolicited stories/scripts from people on Star Trek, they immediately had to be discarded. He indicated you'd be much better off writing an original sci-fi story with your own characters and plot.
And IIRC many of today's authors say much the same thing. You can't just write a Star Trek story, submit it and hope maybe someone at S&S likes it and considers publishing it. It's not going to happen. Even today they'll tell you your best bet is to write an original story. Your best hope I would imagine is if you write really good stories that actually get published, maybe someday you'd get a chance to write a Star Trek story. But even back then you couldn't just write a Star Trek story and get it published. I know that's probably very simplistic, I'm sure there are numerous steps in between, but the point being you can't start with writing Star Trek books---that there are a lot of steps you'd have to take before you'd get that opportunity.
Anyway, one thing I found interesting was the forward to Star Trek 3. In it he notes how at the time he would get letters from readers, some asking how they could write for Star Trek.
I found his response interesting because a number of our current authors have noted much the same thing, indicating not much has changed in that regard in the last 40 or 50 years. Basically he said, first of all, he didn't have any real secret access, other than to scripts so he could do his collections. He noted he maybe saw Gene Roddenberry 2 or 3 times at conventions like everyone else, but otherwise never interacted with him up to that point.
But what was really interesting is his response about writing for Star Trek itself. He noted that you basically couldn't. If he, or anyone involved with the show, received any unsolicited stories/scripts from people on Star Trek, they immediately had to be discarded. He indicated you'd be much better off writing an original sci-fi story with your own characters and plot.
And IIRC many of today's authors say much the same thing. You can't just write a Star Trek story, submit it and hope maybe someone at S&S likes it and considers publishing it. It's not going to happen. Even today they'll tell you your best bet is to write an original story. Your best hope I would imagine is if you write really good stories that actually get published, maybe someday you'd get a chance to write a Star Trek story. But even back then you couldn't just write a Star Trek story and get it published. I know that's probably very simplistic, I'm sure there are numerous steps in between, but the point being you can't start with writing Star Trek books---that there are a lot of steps you'd have to take before you'd get that opportunity.
