Shrinking ST Selection in Bookstores

[donners22]

I went to Angus & Robinson right in the heart of Melbourne and didn't see a single Trek book. My local Collins and A&R bookstores - the only two in a town of over 100,000, do not have any either. Borders has a decent selection, though even then I had to order in Q & A just a few months after it came out. If anything, it's Dr Who books which are taking up a fair bit of room these days.

Oh, for the days when Target had a whole display dedicated to them...

 

[KayArr]

It's been shrinking for quite a few years--there's hardly anything left. It makes me sad--I had some rough years in graduate school in the early 1990s, and for some reason, Star Trek books buoyed me up. If I ever chance on an old numbered book from that time that's slipped through the cracks, sometimes I'll buy it and read it for nostalgia's sake. That said--I enjoyed the TOS novels despite that fact that TOS was long gone, but once TNG ended on t.v., I quickly lost interest in the books. I watched a little Voyager, no DS9, and all of Enterprise--but I never read any of the books, the craving had passed. Still, I wonder if books about the 4 new series can survive without the shows on the air--I really wandered off from Trek books after All Good Things... I seriously didn't enjoy the grouped books--Invasion, that sort of thing. The TOS books didn't need to be linked to something on t.v. since the publication of the books never coincided with the series' run--that's my opinion anyway--shrug.

 

[Therin of Andor]

donners22 said:
I went to Angus & Robertson right in the heart of Melbourne and didn't see a single Trek book.

My memory of Melbourne is that Minotaur is happy to order you in airfreight copies of all Pocket novels as they appear in the Diamond catalogue. They rarely order for the shelves these days, simply because not as many fans must have their copy immediately - those more avid Melbourne fans have often already ordered via Amazon.

Borders Aust. stores order their ST from Borders USA, so they are fairly prompt. If you wait for Angus & Robertson or Dymocks to get ST in, you'll be getting the (slow boat) bulk shipment imported by Simon & Schuster Aust. Distributors - about two months later than Diamond's stuff.

I think you'll find Target Aust. will be stocking ST XI materials. Just wait and see...

 

[Therin of Andor]

KayArr said:
once TNG ended on t.v., I quickly lost interest in the books. I watched a little Voyager, no DS9, and all of Enterprise--but I never read any of the books, the craving had passed.

You probably represent a lot of fans. TNG in first-run syndication set a lot of precedents, and its bubble had to burst sometime. A large percentage of TNG's fans were swept along in the licensing blitz, but demographics do change, and as many in that large group of fans eventually found new ways to spend their disposable income (ie. buying houses, having babies, turning ST shrine rooms into extra bedooms, etc), and different hobbies to become absorbed in.

 

[donners22]

I have far more disposable income and at least as much love for Trek and reading as when I built up a library of over 120 novels, yet I've bought a handful in the last six years.

Whether it is increased cynicism, changing taste or a decline in quality, I have not enjoyed many of the recent Trek books I've borrowed from my local library (which, I might note, has a terrific selection of Trek books, at least). Many of the earlier books may have had a "cookie-cutter" quality to them, but there were far fewer that I strongly disliked.

 

[Ktrek]

donners22 said:
Whether it is increased cynicism, changing taste or a decline in quality, I have not enjoyed many of the recent Trek books I've borrowed from my local library (which, I might note, has a terrific selection of Trek books, at least). Many of the earlier books may have had a "cookie-cutter" quality to them, but there were far fewer that I strongly disliked.

Could you be more specific about what it is that you don't like about recent novels? I have found the novels in the last five years or so to be far better than what we were fed in the late 80's and 90's. I'm just curious!

Kevin

 

[Therin of Andor]

donners22 said:
Many of the earlier books may have had a "cookie-cutter" quality to them, but there were far fewer that I strongly disliked.

I recall Marco saying once that he preferred to be proud of ST novels that polarized readers - people either love them or hate them - than to produce novel after novel of tepid stories that sell okay but offend or thrill no one.

 

[ELURIA]

Therin of Andor said:

donners22 said:
Many of the earlier books may have had a "cookie-cutter" quality to them, but there were far fewer that I strongly disliked.

I recall Marco saying once that he preferred to be proud of ST novels that polarized readers - people either love them or hate them - than to produce novel after novel of tepid stories that sell okay but offend or thrill no one.

A polarizing trek novel, eh ?

Picard finally marries a certain redheaded officer but is then forced to make a deal with Q to save the life of his aunt Adele, which makes him forget all about the marriage

 

[donners22]

Therin of Andor said:

donners22 said:
Many of the earlier books may have had a "cookie-cutter" quality to them, but there were far fewer that I strongly disliked.

I recall Marco saying once that he preferred to be proud of ST novels that polarized readers - people either love them or hate them - than to produce novel after novel of tepid stories that sell okay but offend or thrill no one.

Depends on what you expect from Trek novels. I want something I can read on the way to or from my work (which is in a criminal court) on a crowded and stuffy train. I'm generally not too happy or thrilled with humanity in general, and a fun, enjoyable, relatively light and possibly inspiring read is what I seek. I think the earlier novels provided that batter than the more recent ones.

At the same time, I don't think that it is fair to generalise about earlier novels being "tepid" [says he who is making at least as much a generalisation by suggesting that modern novels are not as enjoyable...]. I can think of plenty that stood out, like Q-Squared, Imzadi, Echoes, Mudd in Your Eye, Masks, Requiem, The Kobayashi Maru... Most had distinctive plots and most were enjoyable reads.

I was able to borrow one from my library and want to buy it on a regular basis once, yet I find that happening far less regularly now.

My concern with modern novels is not necessarily that the plots are more ambitious, that they go beyond TV canon or that they have a harder edge. It is simply that I don't find these changes to be well handled in many cases. There are several books that come to mind which have such potential, yet are dealt with in an extremely frustrating way (Millennium, Mirror Universe and A Time to Die, to name just a few).

Of course, that is all just my personal reaction, and I recognise that many, if not most, feel differently. I vote with my dollars, and they vote with theirs.

 

[Gatekeeper]

None of the big retailers in my area — Wal-Mart Supercenter, Big K-mart, Target, ShopKo — stock Star Trek books. Not a one. Wal-Mart does, however, stock the occasional Star Wars novel.

The local bookstore stocks four to six ST novels, and probably triple that number of SW novels.

Personally, I think two big factors in decreasing book sales is the fact that not only did the last ST movie crash and burn at the theaters, but that Enterprise got itself canceled. A movie crashes and a TV series gets canceled ... it's only sensible that book sales, along with display space, would decline.

And, as much as I like to buy the occasional ST book (my most recent acquisitions was the ST Mirror Universe duology), I don't think the upcoming movie in December will reinvigorate a damn thing.

Gatekeeper

 

[donners22]

^ Not entirely sold on that point. While commercial failure of televised Trek may certainly impact on the perception of the "franchise" and the hype and publicity for the books, that should not make a huge impact on book sales.

If they have an established audience, people should not abandon the books because of what happens on TV. Indeed, if some are frustrated with the way things are going on TV, they may turn to the novels even more if they present an alternative style and direction.

I am presuming that stores are not stocking Trek books as much because of sales more than because of any attached hype to the "franchise". When I asked at my local Collins', that was the reason given.

 

[Gatekeeper]

I am presuming that stores are not stocking Trek books as much because of sales more than because of any attached hype to the "franchise". When I asked at my local Collins', that was the reason given.

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough in my first post, Donners22.

I think it's precisely because the last movie bombed and Enterprise was cancelled that book sales were impacted in a negative fashion. I'm not saying the bombing and cancellation are the sole reasons for the decline in space devoted to ST on stores' bookshelves, but they're likely contributing factors. After all, the movies and TV series are the most visible aspects of the ST franchise.

Personally, I hope the next ST movie breathes new life into the franchise ... but we likely won't know for sure until this fall or next winter.

Gatekeeper

 

[donners22]

^ You were quite clear, and I did try to address your point. I concede that the performance of the most visible forms of Trek would have some impact on sales directly, but we attribute different weights to that impact. I think if the books were of sufficient quality, they would retain a significant portion of the audience despite that performance.

Whether the availability of the novels is greatly affected by the performance of screen Trek, and that has an impact on sales, is a possible consideration.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Ah, OK. Regarding quality written fiction versus the performance of onscreen Trek, well, I suppose there's a study out there somewhere correlating a connection between the financial performances of the two. If there is, it'll be dug up eventually. **LOL**

Gatekeeper

 

[Therin of Andor]

donners22 said:
I think the earlier novels provided that batter than the more recent ones.
At the same time, I don't think that it is fair to generalise about earlier novels being "tepid" [says he who is making at least as much a generalisation by suggesting that modern novels are not as enjoyable...].

By "tepid" ST novels, I refer mainly to the years affected by the memo put out by the Star Trek Office in 1989 (and valid until Roddenberry died in 1991), where authors were essentially told that their best chance of having a ST book or comic proposal, and final manuscript, pass through the Office relatively unchanged would be if they concentrated on the main casts of TOS or TNG, did not write sequels, used new alien planets, and did not share original characters between authors. Richard Arnold seemed to be encouraging authors to do "landing party"/"away team" stories set way off on new alien planets, perhaps to keep them away from sequelizing episodes and bringing back old villains and guest stars.

And by no means were all novels always tepid in that time period. (I said that Marco preferred ST books that polarized opinions rather than those which had tepid storylines and styles.)

That memo affected - and diluted - several books that were still coming out long after GR's passing. You mention books like "Masks", which was written before the memo came into force, and managed to grant Picard some interplanetary sex. Several others you mention were books that inspired "that memo", or successfully skirted around the format being promoted. "Imzadi" came out after Roddenberry died, and Peter David had some harrowing times getting it (and "Strike Zone", and "Vendetta", and "Q-in-Law") through the process of publication. But none of those were tepid.

My definition of ST novels tending towards "tepid", probably due to the memo:

"The Final Nexus", "Enemy Unseen", what remains of "Ghost-walker" and "Probe", "Renegade", "The Starship Trap", and TNG's "Boogeymen", "Spartacus", "Chains of Command" and "Nightshade".

 

[Christopher]

Gatekeeper said:
I think it's precisely because the last movie bombed and Enterprise was cancelled that book sales were impacted in a negative fashion. I'm not saying the bombing and cancellation are the sole reasons for the decline in space devoted to ST on stores' bookshelves, but they're likely contributing factors.

I suspect the main contributing factor to the decline in space devoted to ST on store shelves is the rise of Amazon.com. I mean, do you really know that book sales in general have declined, or just that sales from physical bookstores have declined? In an age of online retail, you can't assume those are the same thing. Maybe it's just that a larger percentage of Trek fans have adopted online shopping.

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

I have to agree that the skrinking selection is not just limited to the US, but is spreading to the UK. I bought Forged in Fire from Waterstone's today and there were barely any Trek books on the shelves, save for two copies of FIF, a bashed-up copy of Q&A, Obsidian Alliances and Starfleet Academy: Collision Course. WHSmith's wasn't much better, with Star Wars books outnumbering Trek at least 3-1 (and both ranges were relegated to the bottom shelf of a Sci-Fi & Fantasy section made-up mostly of LOTR and Iain M. Banks). But both stores' websites have wide Trek ranges so it's probably a matter of keeping down in-store stock that won't sell quickly; small selections of books isn't limited just to sci-fi, as a best-selling "mainstream" author that may have 15 books in print has only 3 books on the shelves.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Christopher said:
In an age of online retail, you can't assume those are the same thing. Maybe it's just that a larger percentage of Trek fans have adopted online shopping.

As I said earlier, managers of SF and specialty bookshops I know were saying years ago that SF and media fans were some the earliest adopters of the growing online shopping phenomenon. Similarly, music stores said that movie soundtrack collectors were early adopters.

 

[JoeZhang]

I don't know what the overall historical picture is - but here in the UK books sales have been increasing, around 9% up on the previous year.

I think part of the problem with Trek books, once you have read one, why would you want to read the rest? Buyers seem more adventurous than in the past and there is something vaguely wasteful in spending your time reading all the books from one franchise - it all gets a bit samey in the end.

 

[Therin of Andor]

JoeZhang said:
once you have read one, why would you want to read the rest?

Umm, because it was good?

Buyers seem more adventurous than in the past and there is something vaguely wasteful in spending your time reading all the books from one franchise - it all gets a bit samey in the end.

What, like "Harry Potter" I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII?

I read ST novels because i love the ST Universe. I do read other things including other SF, but I make a point of always having a ST novel at the ready. I'd rather be reading ST than lots of other SF.

It's been a long time since a ST novel was "samey".