"Beyond" Novelization

[jaime]

I do think it's a shame there's no novelisation.

Whilst understanding why they are out of favour, I recently purchased (but am yet to read) the novelisation of Interstellar, and am currently reading the junior novelisation of the Lego Movie to my son at bed time.
I would argue that such novelisations, in my past, and hopefully my sons future, are very important for helping raise literacy rates, especially in young boys.

Though I can tell you, doing the voice of Lord business, metal beard, and bad cop for three chapters a night is murder. And I thought having to try to differentiate between Kira and Jadzia was hard when reading him some Ds9 novels was hard. (British male here....you can imagine the vocal contortions needed.) I am never ever reading him a Klingon Heavy book. 'you are cordially invited' showed me the agony of Worf.

(they are both kindle versions, but are of course text heavy with photo inserts at the end or middle, just like the old golden years of the novelisation)

 

[Greg Cox]

True story: When I first started editing movie novelizations for Tor, I automatically included six-page photo inserts just because, well, that's what you do with novelizations, right? Eventually, however, I concluded that they were more trouble than they were worth, added too much to the production costs, and that it was unclear if they actually boosted sales. So I just quietly stopped doing the inserts.

Nobody ever noticed or complained, and, as far as I could tell, it didn't seem to have any impact on sales.

 

[jaime]

True story: When I first started editing movie novelizations for Tor, I automatically included six-page photo inserts just because, well, that's what you do with novelizations, right? Eventually, however, I concluded that they were more trouble than they were worth, added too much to the production costs, and that it was unclear if they actually boosted sales. So I just quietly stopped doing the inserts.

Nobody ever noticed or complained, and, as far as I could tell, it didn't seem to have any impact on sales.

When was this? These things were important pre Internet XD.
I think even my copy of the grease novelisation had photo inserts.

Then there are the a4 size 'photostory' books that were pure awesome. But I only remember my E.T one and my dad has one for Alien. The Temple of Doom one was a5 and fell apart.

 

[Greg Cox]

Mid-nineties. I think the last time I included a photo insert might have been the novelization of the first MORTAL KOMBAT movie.

And, honestly, it wasn't so much about the cost as about the fact that they were a pain in the ass: you had to select the photos, get the images approved by the studio (often no easy task), print the inserts on special glossy paper which then had to bound into the other pages at the printing plant, and so on, all while dealing with super-tight deadlines.

I eventually decided that life was simply too short to deal with six-page photo inserts.

 

[Kor]

I love older novelizations with the photo inserts, such as the original Star Wars. They feel like special commemorative souvenirs or something.

Kor

 

[Greg Cox]

I admit I have fond memories of the photo inserts in my paperback copies of LOGAN'S RUN and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD.

But now that you can call up images from most any new movie with a few strokes on a keyboard, such inserts are probably even less of a selling point than they were back in the nineties, when I decided not to bother anymore.

 

[Relayer1]

I admit I have fond memories of the photo inserts in my paperback copies of LOGAN'S RUN and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD.

But now that you can call up images from most any new movie with a few strokes on a keyboard, such inserts are probably even less of a selling point than they were back in the nineties, when I decided not to bother anymore.

Schematics are good. I really liked the Titan and Vanguard inclusions. As they're on the normal paper, are they less hassle ?

And if so, can we have more please ?

 

[Greg Cox]

Schematics are good. I really liked the Titan and Vanguard inclusions. As they're on the normal paper, are they less hassle ?

And if so, can we have more please ?

I can't speak to STAR TREK, but, yeah, you still see maps and such in science fiction and fantasy novels. There's a bit of an extra expense, in that you usually have to hire a professional to redraw the author's own drawings, but it's a not a deal-breaker.

Shameless plug: check out the gorgeous two-page map in a book I recently edited, THE SHOTGUN ARCANA by R. S. Belcher.

Mind you, I justified the expense on the grounds that we have more books coming in the series, so, in theory, we can keep reusing the map.

 

[Relayer1]

Fingers crossed then !

 

[Stevil2001]

The photo inserts in my old copy of 2001 used to confuse me, as they corresponded to the film's different plot, which I didn't see until much later. (Like, they mentioned Jupiter and the book I was reading took place near Saturn!)

I thought it was interesting that Warner released two books to tie in with the first two Reeve Superman films (Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, respectively), but they weren't novelizations, yet still had the photo inserts.

 

[Greg Cox]

The photo inserts in my old copy of 2001 used to confuse me, as they corresponded to the film's different plot, which I didn't see until much later. (Like, they mentioned Jupiter and the book I was reading took place near Saturn!)

Same with the movie tie-in edition of LOGAN'S RUN, which was not a novelization but a reissue of the original novel, which had very different plot that didn't match up with the photos from the movie!

 

[Christopher]

I thought it was interesting that Warner released two books to tie in with the first two Reeve Superman films (Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, respectively), but they weren't novelizations, yet still had the photo inserts.

Yeah, that was a bit confusing. I think I read LSoK before I saw the movie, so I was probably surprised that it was a different story. Or maybe the photo inserts helped me realize that the movie's story was different -- I don't really remember.

Anyway, those two novels (by Elliot S! Maggin) are among the very best Superman stories ever written. They're enormously better than the movies they tied into.

 

[Stevil2001]

Yeah, that was a bit confusing. I think I read LSoK before I saw the movie, so I was probably surprised that it was a different story. Or maybe the photo inserts helped me realize that the movie's story was different -- I don't really remember.

Anyway, those two novels (by Elliot S! Maggin) are among the very best Superman stories ever written. They're enormously better than the movies they tied into.

Two great films and two great books in my view.

 

[Therin of Andor]

True story: When I first started editing movie novelizations for Tor, I automatically included six-page photo inserts just because...

Futura UK and Australasia had photo inserts for TMP's novelization. We were sooo disappointed when their ST II didn't.


TMP insert sample by Ian McLean, on Flickr

 

[The Wormhole]

^^Hey, this is the first time I realized there were actually actors on set for the transporter malfunction. I guess it makes sense there would be, I just never considered it before. That's pretty cool.

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ IIRC, Susan Sullivan actually has a cast credit in the movie, and that's her only scene.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I thought it was interesting that Warner released two books to tie in with the first two Reeve Superman films (Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, respectively), but they weren't novelizations, yet still had the photo inserts.

From my understanding, that was related to original screenwriter Mario Puzo's contract. It prevented his story from being adapted into other media, which is why the tie-in novels for both Superman the Movie and Superman II were original stories instead of adaptations of the films (Puzo wrote one long story that was later split into two screenplays and rewritten by others). You'll also notice that DC Comics didn't do any comic book adaptations of the Superman films until Superman III, when Puzo was no longer involved.

DC Comics still did some books that tied in with the films, however. They had treasury-sized books for both films. Info available here and here at my friend Rob Kelly's Treasury Comics site.

 

[Khan 2.0]

therewere elements of Superman The Movie used in the Superman Returns prequel comics..i guess Singer mustve secured some rights to do that

 

[Christopher]

^ IIRC, Susan Sullivan actually has a cast credit in the movie, and that's her only scene.

But it's not the same Susan Sullivan from The Incredible Hulk and Castle, despite what some online sources claim.

 

[Therin of Andor]

^^Hey, this is the first time I realized there were actually actors on set for the transporter malfunction. I guess it makes sense there would be, I just never considered it before. That's pretty cool.

Sonak Night Fever by Ian McLean, on Flickr

That still also appears in the 1980 TMP calendar from Simon & Schuster.