Need help putting my TNG Novel together

[Christopher]

I don't understand why anyone with the usual unjust prejudices would like a franchise that is renowned for promoting equality and depicting a future without homophobia, sexism, etc.

People can be very selective about how they interpret a work of fiction. (For instance, there are some people who think ST is a show about peaceful exploration and diplomacy and others who think it's a show about space battles and weapons.) Or they can tolerate some part of it they don't like so long as it isn't pushed into the forefront.

 

[xortex]

My suggestion to the op is to make sure the story is not only relevant to you and/or the characters but to the times we live in, as in everything else, in reality, as well as tied into the human condition and is something that needs to be expressed, and pitch a thumbnail version of it directly to one of the editors at S & S. Edit and boil the concept down to it's bare essence - The setup/premise/hook - the complication - the resolution and twist. Finish only the first three chapters and a detailed synopsis of ten to fifteen pages and hope it's at least ten times better than what Chris is submitting. It should also be the tip of the ice berg with more to follow it up else it burns up in the hostile atmosphere. Breaking in is the hardest part. Work on other concepts instead of finishing unless you want to frame it.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I would have been eight or nine years old at the time.

And never read any Star Trek magazines, or chatted to other Star Trek fans, over the next seven years? You're hardly a stranger on TrekBBS. Anti-Janeway sentiments pop up here all the time.

How does that make you feel, Therin?

52. And well-read.

 

[Sci]

I would have been eight or nine years old at the time.

And never read any Star Trek magazines, or chatted to other Star Trek fans, over the next seven years? You're hardly a stranger on TrekBBS.

I registered on the TrekBBS in 2003, two years after VOY ended. I've encountered plenty of anti-Janeway sentiment, but I've never encountered anyone openly arguing against the idea of a female captain.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I've encountered plenty of anti-Janeway sentiment, but I've never encountered anyone openly arguing against the idea of a female captain.

A quick Google:

"I recall when a lot of people would get angry at disliking Janeway because she was a female captain, so she’d have to be a little tougher. First of all, Star Trek is supposed to be a colour-blind, gender-blind, species-blind co-operative of planets, so why exactly would the sexism of our society be relevant to her?"
http://blair.mitchelmore.ca/captain-janeway-destroyed-star-trek/

"On another end, you have Mulgrew herself, who stated in an interview that she believes that fanboys weren't ready to accept a female captain."
http://sfdebris.com/voyager/crew/crew_janeway.asp

"Janeway is a woman, and the sexism-laced commentary about her being too manly or too feminine or too whatever have flowed since the show began."
http://tempest.fluidartist.com/standing-up-for-sisko-and-janeway/

"Is this because men fear or hate the idea of a female Captain?"
http://olclassic.lowerdecks.com/index.php?showtopic=650

"When Voyager first came out, most of the discussion among my Trekkie friends centered around how lame it was that Voyager had a female captain. Fortunately I do not fear girls quite as much as I once did, and do not react with visceral fear to Janeway’s authoritative female presence."
http://stagingpoint.com/voyager/2011/04/28/voyager-series-pilot-caretaker/

 

[xortex]

I'm just wondering, were they angry at Kate because she was portraying the Captain or because she was female?

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm just wondering, were they angry at Kate because she was portraying the Captain or because she was female?

There would have been some in both camps. Fans get angry over anything and everything.

The quote, though, says "she believes that fanboys weren't ready to accept a female captain."

 

[xortex]

Unforgivable.

 

[Fer]

Interestingly enough, when I was going to conventions around that time, I didn't run into anyone complaining about a female captain, but I did run into a lot of people complaining about a black Vulcan.

 

[Sci]

Interestingly enough, when I was going to conventions around that time, I didn't run into anyone complaining about a female captain, but I did run into a lot of people complaining about a black Vulcan.

People were complaining about persons from a desert planet having dark skin?

Oy gevalt. I'm glad I was too young to hear that bullshit at the time.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yes, it's true, there was at least a minor hoopla about it that I picked up on. As far as I can tell it's a complete non-issue today.

 

[Christopher]

And it's not like we hadn't seen a dark-skinned Vulcan before Voyager came along:

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Vulcan_High_Priestess_ST5.jpg

 

[F. King Daniel]

Heck, there are still diehard Galactica purists bitching about that reboot, which, at this point, kind of reminds me of a Japanese soldier who doesn't know that World War II is over . . .

At this point, I'm kind of resigned to the fact that the purists are going to gripe about nuTrek for the rest of our natural lives . . . or until somebody reboots the franchise again!

Meanwhile, getting back to the topic at hand . . . .

The best is when these fanboys do a complete 180° when the next thing to bitch about comes along. I roared with laughter when I read Ex Astris Scientia call Star Trek: Enterprise "true Star Trek" in an article when the first pics of STXI were released.

 

[JarodRussell]

Heck, there are still diehard Galactica purists bitching about that reboot, which, at this point, kind of reminds me of a Japanese soldier who doesn't know that World War II is over . . .

At this point, I'm kind of resigned to the fact that the purists are going to gripe about nuTrek for the rest of our natural lives . . . or until somebody reboots the franchise again!

Meanwhile, getting back to the topic at hand . . . .

Heh, there are also people like me who don't care for the original Galactica but were extremely disappointed by the remake anyways.

 

[Idran]

My suggestion to the op is to make sure the story is not only relevant to you and/or the characters but to the times we live in, as in everything else, in reality, as well as tied into the human condition and is something that needs to be expressed, and pitch a thumbnail version of it directly to one of the editors at S & S.

Because if there's one thing editors love, it's an author bypassing the normal system and digging up their contact information to pitch a story idea directly.

 

[xortex]

Good question. Will they take e-mail submissions ?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Good question. Will they take e-mail submissions ?

IIRC, not for unsolicitated manuscripts. It's still considered poor email etiquette to send a chunky attachment to someone you don't know.

Established Pocket/Gallery authors would send email attachments.

 

[JD]

And I have a feeling that harassing the editors like that would probably be a good way to make sure that you're book never even gets looked. When it comes to this kind of stuff, I have a feeling the best way to be able to move forward is to actually follow the rules that have been discussed earlier in the thread.

 

[xortex]

Subjective aesthetics as to what Trek lit should be all about, mm. Do the editors themselves have readers like the tv show did? who provide them with help sorting it all out. I vote for Dayton for this exhaulted position.

 

[Christopher]

Most publishers have readers who go through the slush pile looking for worthwhile submissions, but it's not an "exalted" position; it's often a job for an intern or assistant. And it's not a job for an author. We're busy writing our own books.