one FRICKING shelf

[DBR]

At the Chapters locations I go to (three of them, and quite frequently) Star Trek books have never had more than one or two shelves devoted to them. It has been like this for as long as I can remember.

In the last two years or so, however, one of the locations seems to have expanded or rearranged the Sci-fi/Fantasy section, and there is now a 4-foot long (by maybe 5-6 shelves high) section devoted mostly to media tie-in Science fiction, a good chunk of it Trek.

 

[JD]

I went to Books-A-Million last week, but they still have the usual 2 (bottom) shelves of Star Trek, and a whole case of Star Wars. They did have the most recent comic TPBs, but I had to look pretty hard for them. As far as ST novels, they just had random ones from the last 2-3 years; and if they're duologies or trilogies they don't have book 1. However, my local Wal-Mart does have more Trek stuff than usual (still not much though). They have a bunch of Pez dispensers up front, quite a few action figures at the front of the isle, and the only DVD they had was the Alternate Realities collection, but still no books.

You're lucky, the only Trek at the Wal-Mart where I work is the ST09 Barbies (which I would probably get if it weren't for the fact that they say Barbie all over them), a ST09 poster (bought it), and Alternate Realities Fan Collectie (I think I got it there when it came out, before I worked there). The Target down the road a mile or so actually has almost all the toys though (there were only two or three action figures missing, and they didn't have the electronic communicators). I forgot to check books.

 

[Trent Roman]

ST09? Wouldn't that be Insurrection?

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Broccoli]

TrekMovie has taken to calling the new movie as ST09 (since it comes out in 2009). That handle has started to spread beyond TrekMovie.

 

[Trent Roman]

That seems pointlessly confusing. At least do something like ST '09 to make it clear one is designating a year and not the numeral in the sequence of films.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Jbarney]

So much of this stuff is cyclic. I'm still amazed so many people here are convinced the cycle will never turn in Star Trek literature's favour again.

Ian, I would like nothing more than to see the Star Trek film help the cause of Star Trek literature.

The problem is, I don't see that Pocket has done anything to take advantage of that. I want to be wrong. I've said that all along. But the view that I have is that Pocket -- either in Editorial or in Marketing or in Sales or any combination thereof -- has found a way to seize defeat from the jaws of victory.

I have to agree, or at least express fan based frustration. It is nuts to think that a product I want to see do well, the trek literature, is seemingly being ignored or forgotten right now. I am not sure where the criticism should go, but it just seems logical for a film the size of Star Trek to have some marketing interest beyond the film. In the book stores here in Vermont there has been *NO* additional shelf space for trek books. None....Zip.

In my mind this is a huge missed opportunity. Perhaps things will get going when the movie novelization hits the stores. I think having an expanded product in the market prior to the film's release makes a hell of a lot of sense. It hasn't happened.

 

[JD]

ST09? Wouldn't that be Insurrection?

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

TrekMovie has taken to calling the new movie as ST09 (since it comes out in 2009). That handle has started to spread beyond TrekMovie.

That seems pointlessly confusing. At least do something like ST '09 to make it clear one is designating a year and not the numeral in the sequence of films.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

Sorry, I tend to think of the other movies only by the titles (The Voyage Home instead of STIV/ST04, so I didn't even think of it being confused for Insurrection.

 

[ClayinCA]

Margaret's cancellation of the Crucible hardcover was also short-sighted. Yes, I realize she didn't have enough hours in the day, but that's one of the few books that were on tap that would have caught the lightning from the film.

Well, bearing in mind that I have no idea what actually went into the decision to cancel the hardcover, I completely agree with you. It seemed like the perfect "non-tie-in" tie-in to the new movie, if you see what I mean, and could have offered a more "entry-level" reading experience, and still being special enough to bring in new readers.

And I realize I've been ranting about this in other threads, but it's surely not a good sign that less than two weeks from the movie's release, there's a brand-new Star Trek book (Treason) that's not even offered by any of the New York City-area book stores??

 

[Trent Roman]

That might just be crappy distribution than a deliberate lack of orders. Over here, months will go by without anything new and then suddenly everything shows up at once; since late last year I had been looking for Destiny, and then a few weeks ago it, along with Singular Destiny and Over a Torrent Sea, stormed into local bookstores. Whatev'.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[William Leisner]

That might just be crappy distribution than a deliberate lack of orders. Over here, months will go by without anything new and then suddenly everything shows up at once; since late last year I had been looking for Destiny, and then a few weeks ago it, along with Singular Destiny and Over a Torrent Sea, stormed into local bookstores. Whatev'.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

In this particular case, I'm going to wager that S&S had put the store on a credit hold during the holidays, when they had a significant amount of capital tied up in bestsellers and other inventory. Then, as returns go back to the publishers and more cash is freed up, overdue bills get paid, and the spigots get turned back on. Unfortunately, this is the financial reality that a lot of retailers face, and this, more than any lack of desire to grab onto the movie's coattails, is what's keeping stock levels where they are.

 

[Trent Roman]

Ah. I wasn't familiar with that practice; it would certainly help explain why some bookstores seem to get new stock from this and other properties I follow in waves rather than a steady, month-by-month stream. Of course, this is something I had observed in several local bookstores, not just one; but then, there's no reason they couldn't all be in the same boat of overordering for the holiday rush.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[NCC-1701-B]

in forbidden planet in Liverpool, they used to have mainly star trek stuff, everything was there. the only trek stuff that remains is a small shelf of books, an art asylum enterprise e and the 6 foot enterprise d they have hanging from the ceiling

 

[Marie1]

There is a real store called Forbidden Planet??? Wow... I wish it was still the way you described!

 

[DimesDan]

There is a real store called Forbidden Planet??? Wow... I wish it was still the way you described!

Yeah it's a chain or just a franchise (not sure which) with large stores in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester plus a few other cities and then smaller stores in places like Stoke-on-Trent and Derby.

When I was at uni I regularly went and picked up my Trek Lit fix from the Stoke store as they'd often sell the books a tad cheaper than the Waterstones just down the road.

 

[Greg Cox]

There is a real store called Forbidden Planet??? Wow... I wish it was still the way you described!

Yeah it's a chain or just a franchise (not sure which) with large stores in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester plus a few other cities and then smaller stores in places like Stoke-on-Trent and Derby.

When I was at uni I regularly went and picked up my Trek Lit fix from the Stoke store as they'd often sell the books a tad cheaper than the Waterstones just down the road.

There's even a Forbidden Planet in Manhattan, around Twelth Street.

 

[Marie1]

There is a real store called Forbidden Planet??? Wow... I wish it was still the way you described!

Yeah it's a chain or just a franchise (not sure which) with large stores in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester plus a few other cities and then smaller stores in places like Stoke-on-Trent and Derby.

When I was at uni I regularly went and picked up my Trek Lit fix from the Stoke store as they'd often sell the books a tad cheaper than the Waterstones just down the road.

And there's one in London... Yay!!
I could not find a suitable emoticon for this...

 

[DimesDan]

And there's one in London... Yay!!
I could not find a suitable emoticon for this...

Yep, tis somewhere on Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End and not far from Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus.

And I didn't know there was one (or maybe more) in the States, but then again, I've never actually ventured outside of the European Union.

 

[Marie1]

And there's one in London... Yay!!
I could not find a suitable emoticon for this...

Yep, tis somewhere on Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End and not far from Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus.

And I didn't know there was one (or maybe more) in the States, but then again, I've never actually ventured outside of the European Union.

Excellent, on a quest I shall go...

Piccadilly Circus? Really?!?!

Yeah, I've been to the U.S. maybe 3 times... well, maybe a bit more but still... we used to have cool stuff here, and then it got lame...

 

[ClayinCA]

There is a real store called Forbidden Planet??? Wow... I wish it was still the way you described!

Yeah it's a chain or just a franchise (not sure which) with large stores in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester plus a few other cities and then smaller stores in places like Stoke-on-Trent and Derby.

When I was at uni I regularly went and picked up my Trek Lit fix from the Stoke store as they'd often sell the books a tad cheaper than the Waterstones just down the road.

There's even a Forbidden Planet in Manhattan, around Twelth Street.

14th Street, I believe, though it's been months since I've been there, so I don't remember.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Interesting developments Down Under:

Usually, Australian specialist comic stores and SF bookstores order (expensive: MMPBs @ approx. $AU 18 in Galaxy and $21 @ Minotaur) air-freighted ST books from Diamond, then top up supplies three months later when the Simon & Schuster Australia brings over a (cheaper, MMPB @ $15) sea-freighted pallet of stock for local distribution.

But... regular bookstores, such as the Dymocks chain, already have regularly-priced copies of "Full Circle" and "Treason" as of this week. So, it would seem, for the current movie release period, they are actually air-freighting new "Star Trek" titles and keeping the pricetags at sea freight rates! My local Dymocks had about six copies each of "Full Circle" and "Treason" yesterday, and even Galaxy Bookshop had their very large batch of "Full Circle" for only $14.95.

This should mean a reasonably-priced batch of the movie's novelization should be on most Aussie bookshop shelves simultaneously with the rest of the world. (The last nine ST movies we've had to rely on the specialist stores' air freighting efforts to keep us current.)