Rules for new Trek authors.

[ConRefit79]

I've read some of the rules Pocket Books has established for new authors. They want new authors to limit their stories to characters from one of the series. However, most of the series have moved on. Some characters have left or died. Other new characters have been created to replace them. Does Pocket Books consider stories with these characters acceptable for new authors?

 

[Thrawn]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: The rules for new authors are not the rules for new BOOKS. A tie-in writer has to be able to work within constraints, and professionally produce a piece of fiction with story elements commissioned by an editor. The rules for new authors are, essentially, an audition process - can you submit a proposal that fits all of their conditions, and is also good? It's just as much a test of following instructions as it is a test of writing ability.

If they like your submission, rather than publish it they may ask you to pitch stories for the ongoing serialized series. But they don't take pitches for those series unless you've already proven you can work within their constraints.

 

[Christopher]

It's a mischaracterization to call them "rules for new authors." They are submission guidelines for aspiring authors. As Thrawn says, they're the parameters you're asked to follow for your audition process. That's not a reflection of what you'd actually get the opportunity to write if you actually break in.

 

[ConRefit79]

Thank you. You're right, they are guidelines. I don understand it is a test of an authors ability to follow the guidelines as well as ability.

Ya'll have answered my question. If an aspiring author wants to submit an idea, they should submit one which takes place with all the main characters of a series. So TNG, Voyager, DS9 and Enterprise relaunch stories should be avoided for this process.

 

[Greg Cox]

To be fair, the only person who can really answer this question is Jaime Costas . . . .

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

All art is defined, in part, by the constraints under which it is produced. String quartets don't normally call for a saxophone solo. Symphonies are generally multi-movement works with the first movement in sonata-allegro form and the final movement in either sonata-allegro form or rondo form.

In a Coyote/Roadrunner short,
1. Nobody speaks.
2. The Roadrunner makes no aggressive moves beyond beeping or sticking his tongue out, and never leaves the road for the purpose of avoiding the Coyote's schemes.
3. The Coyote's schemes are always overly complex, and always backfire.
4. The Roadrunner always escapes.

Pocket is not in the business of buying "Mary-Sue" books from new authors, and they only rarely buy them from established authors (and even then, they have to be far better than anything a new author is likely to produce). You want to write a Mary-Sue book and get it published? Do it in your own milieu.

Personally, I think it's a crying shame that the "Strange New Worlds" anthology series was discontinued.