Small 2010 update - covers and titles

[Sci]

Is there really ever a perfect title?

I think so. Though I think they're comparatively rare.

"A Hole in the World," for instance, was the perfect title for that episode of Angel. "Chosen" was the perfect title for Buffy the Vampire Slayer's series finale, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer was itself the perfect title for that series.

M. Butterfly is the perfect title for David Henry Hwang's play. Rent is the perfect title for Jonathan Larson's musical. The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade is the perfect title for the bizarre play by Peter Weiss. Jesus Christ Superstar is the perfect title for Lloyd Webber and Rice's musical.

"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" is the perfect title for the DS9 episode. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" would have been the perfect title for almost any TOS episode other than the one it was applied to. "The Best of Both Worlds" really was the perfect title for the TNG episode, as was "Chains of Command." "Emissary" was perfect for the DS9 opener, given the dual nature of Sisko's role as both emissary of the Federation to Bajor and Emissary of the Prophets. "These Are the Voyages...," whatever else its faults, really did have the perfect title for what everyone thought might be the last episode of any Star Trek series for a very long time. "The Undiscovered Country" would have been the perfect title for Star Trek II.

 

[Greg Cox]

Another true story: Years ago I was in a writer's workshop with a guy who was working on a fantasy novel. I loved the book but hated the title, and told him so. A few years later, he sold the book to a big NYC publisher--where I had just gone to work as an editor. I finally got to change his title to the one I had suggested way back when. (I confess to gloating a bit!)

 

[Lonemagpie]

And, a lot of the time, the early titles are just "placeholders" for the real title which nobody has come up with yet.

Too true - being rubbish at thinking up titles I did once sign on the dotted line of a contract where the title was "I'll think of a title when it's finished, honest"

 

[BrotherBenny]

Greg, isn't the vampire market a little saturated at the moment?

Hopefully I'll come up with a better title before my book gets picked up (if it is).

 

[Greg Cox]

Greg, isn't the vampire market a little saturated at the moment?

Hopefully I'll come up with a better title before my book gets picked up (if it is).

I thought so ten years ago, and it's only been growing since. Not that I'm complaining . . . .

 

[Dayton Ward]

Too true - being rubbish at thinking up titles I did once sign on the dotted line of a contract where the title was "I'll think of a title when it's finished, honest"

The title on the contract for what ended up being Open Secrets was "TBD."

For our next Vanguard book, the current title, out of respect for Steve Mollmann and his love of long, old-school unwieldy titles, is The Taurus Key: A Crystalline Fairy Tale, Founded Upon The Mysteries of the Shedai and the Oppression of Their Servants. It Was Written for Kollotuul, But Others Should Read It.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Too true - being rubbish at thinking up titles I did once sign on the dotted line of a contract where the title was "I'll think of a title when it's finished, honest"

The title on the contract for what ended up being Open Secrets was "TBD."

Oh, I've had "TBC" as well. But that's just somehow not as unique...

For our next Vanguard book, the current title, out of respect for Steve Mollmann and his love of long, old-school unwieldy titles, is The Taurus Key: A Crystalline Fairy Tale, Founded Upon The Mysteries of the Shedai and the Oppression of Their Servants. It Was Written for Kollotuul, But Others Should Read It.

I'm guessing the first three words are most likely to make it to the printed cover...

 

[BrotherBenny]

Too true - being rubbish at thinking up titles I did once sign on the dotted line of a contract where the title was "I'll think of a title when it's finished, honest"

The title on the contract for what ended up being Open Secrets was "TBD."

Oh, I've had "TBC" as well. But that's just somehow not as unique...

For our next Vanguard book, the current title, out of respect for Steve Mollmann and his love of long, old-school unwieldy titles, is The Taurus Key: A Crystalline Fairy Tale, Founded Upon The Mysteries of the Shedai and the Oppression of Their Servants. It Was Written for Kollotuul, But Others Should Read It.

I'm guessing the first three words are most likely to make it to the printed cover...

Not very Rush-like though, is it?

 

[Dayton Ward]

Contrary to popular myth, our stories with titles inspired by Rush songs are still outnumbered by those which aren't

 

[Stevil2001]

For our next Vanguard book, the current title, out of respect for Steve Mollmann and his love of long, old-school unwieldy titles, is The Taurus Key: A Crystalline Fairy Tale, Founded Upon The Mysteries of the Shedai and the Oppression of Their Servants. It Was Written for Kollotuul, But Others Should Read It.

I'm just saying-- if this title ends up on the book, you've got yourself five extra sales. No, make that ten.

Also acceptable: Nogura's Conquest of Taurus (A Sequel to Precipice): How the People of All the Federation, Fearful of a Second Invasion From the Shedai, Under the Inspiration and Leadership of Heihachiro Nogura, The Great Admiral, Combined to Conquer the Warlike Reach.

 

[KirkSpockTOSFan]

I really like the Children Of Kings cover. Great stuff on both of those, actually; much better than the last few covers this year.

And the variety of stories from the nuTrek books sounds appealing

I agree, both books looks pretty cool! I can't wait until they come out, I plan on buying them both. I also plan on buying the STXI novel based books too. I wish they had cover art for those. I like to see what they look like.

 

[ClayinCA]

Actually, my first vampire book, THE TRANSYLVANIAN LIBRARY, came out in 1993 . . . .

Greg, all I can glean from Amazon about this book is that it's out of print, but that title is really cool. What was the book about? I may need to track this down...

 

[Greg Cox]

Actually, my first vampire book, THE TRANSYLVANIAN LIBRARY, came out in 1993 . . . .

Greg, all I can glean from Amazon about this book is that it's out of print, but that title is really cool. What was the book about? I may need to track this down...

It was a non-fiction guide to vampire literature, up to about 1987 or so. It's horribly out-of-date now, but it was the very first book I ever sold! (Albeit to a small academic press.)

 

[elaithin]

What counts is that it was sold, however. It doesn't matter who to...

 

[Greg Cox]

What counts is that it was sold, however. It doesn't matter who to...

Oh yeah, I was definitely thrilled. And that book gave me a rep as "the vampire guy," which led to TOMORROW SUCKS and the UNDERWORLD novels . . . .

You have to start somewhere!

 

[Tara]

I love that young Carol Marcus on Inception is a manipped Love is a Many Splendoured Thing publicity still...

As for Pike's hairline, looks fine to me tho it looks like the image was horizontally squished a teeny tiny bit.

(Tho the lack of Number One on the The Chidren of Kings cover makes me zomg so sad. Or, you know, BOYCE. But I can see why Spock is on the cover, cos almost all the Pike novels have Spock on the cover, so people can tell at a glance it's a TOS novel cos they wouldn't necessarily buy it without Spock and/or Kirk on the cover.)

 

[Christopher]

^Ack, I have been out-Google-fu'ed! Congrats on finding a larger version of that Bibi Besch cover.

Okay, so we've located the originals for the Pike and Enterprise images on the Children of Kings cover and the Carol Marcus image on the Inception cover -- that leaves Kirk, Leila, and two Spock images to track down. Shouldn't be hard with the Inception images, since we know the specific episode for Leila and for Kirk in that uniform, and Spock is from one of the two pilots. But the Spock on the TCoK cover should be the tough one.


EDIT: Okay, here's Kirk, from the scene in "Where No Man" where Gary was in the cell on Delta Vega:

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x03hd/wherenomanhasgonebeforehd497.jpg

Here's Inception Spock, from near the end of "The Cage" (just after Colt and Number One beam back up):

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0x00/thecage442.jpg

 

[Tara]

Spock on Inception is also a cap from "The Menagerie" (as I discovered when I used it for a manip only to realise afterwards that it's the same still used on Inception.

(My design brain stays switched on 24/7, even when I'm not actually at work.)

 

[Dayton Ward]

If I had to guess, I'd say Spock on CoK could be from "Amok Time" or "Journey to Babel." Nothing more to go on than a gut feeling, though.

 

[Christopher]

Oddly, I can't find the Leila Kalomi image on TrekCore's screencaps, either DVD or HD. But it's definitely from "This Side of Paradise," unless Jill Ireland used that exact same hairstyle in some other show. Maybe it's from a publicity photo. But I have no luck finding it with an image search for "Leila Kalomi."

And I kind of get a third-season vibe from the TCoK Spock image, though I can't say why.