StarTrek.com Reveals Full 2015 Star Trek Book Schedule

[JD]

I still have a couple of shelves of paperbacks I bought a while back, but when it comes to buying new stuff I'm pretty much all e-book. For me the conveniences of e-books vastly outweigh any advantages of paperbooks.

Yes, Christopher, I have read things on my computer before. I do not enjoy it. I also can't stand watching TV shows or movies on my computer. I also don't like playing games on my computer. Really, unless I'm popping in to the BBS or doing something for work, I don't like being on my computer.

If I'm reading a book, I want to be reading a book. I want to be on my couch, under a blanket, and away from any other distractions, and I certainly don't want to be staring at a bright screen.

At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I'm with you here. I spend enough time sitting at the keyboard writing and editing. The last thing I want to do when I'm watching TV or reading for pleasure is sit down at my computer again or fire up my laptop. Give me a comfy chair and some dead trees any day!

Mind you, once I break down and actually try using a Kindle or whatever, I'm sure I'll wonder how I ever lived without it, but for now I like to read books on paper and watch TV on TV.

You're not alone. In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, they had a sidebar piece on a recent Nielsen survey about how teens prefer to read books and they polled 101 teens in Rockefeller Center. Their findings:

83% prefer to read Print books

67% of teens with e-readers prefer to read Print over Digital

I have to admit to being rather shocked by those result, I figured by now most people read on their phones or tablets. I read on my Nexus tablet, it's the perfect size for me, it's big enough to watch movies/TV shows on and read on, but it's still small enough that it's easy to transport.

 

[Markonian]

By now, I've fully transitioned to reading e-books only where possible; i.e., I bought Stellar Cartography and F:150Y in print. My preferred device is the kindle, because reading on screens like smartphones, tablets or PCs induces headache.

I've gotten rid of almost every printed book I had, only retaining books with lots of pictures and dead-tree-only versions. Space is valuable. Filling it with stacks of paper that are completely useless except for those times when I pick up a book for reading is inefficient for me.

On the New Frontier e-novellas, I like the symmetry with the start of the series as well, and would prefer this to provide a proper end to the series.

 

[JWolf]

Here's hoping those NF e-novellas eventually end up printed in an actual book.

Here's hoping never is not too soon.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I tried reading ebooks on my computer; I didn't care for it. I don't have a tablet or a personal smartphone, and at any rate, I can't imagine reading a book on a little smartphone screen. I do, however, have a Kobo eReader, and it's great! Reading off an eInk screen causes no more eyestrain than reading off a printed page, for me, anyway.

Now, I still buy my ST books in print format, if available, but I have no problem with eBook exclusives, either. I wouldn't be against eBook exclusive novels. If the NF novellas really are one novel split into three... why couldn't they just release it as one novel?

It will be interesting to see what they do with pricing on these. Right now, a new eBook ST novel goes for $8.99 here... $1 less than the print version. If these are one novel split up, if the individual novellas go for more than $2.99 - $3.33 each, it'll be a bit of a rip-off. Not that S&S hasn't done this before *cough*Honor Blade*cough*.

 

[ATimson]

If the NF novellas really are one novel split into three... why couldn't they just release it as one novel?

There's many possible reasons, but I think they all boil down to "marketing doesn't think it'll sell enough copies".

If these are one novel split up, if the individual novellas go for more than $2.99 - $3.33 each, it'll be a bit of a rip-off. Not that S&S hasn't done this before *cough*Honor Blade*cough*.

S&S seems to be varying randomly between $1.99 and $3.99 for their novellas. That said: if this book was in print, I'd expect it to debut as a trade paperback like recent NF books, rather than as a MMPB. So even at $3.99 there's still a savings.

 

[Avro Arrow]

If these are one novel split up, if the individual novellas go for more than $2.99 - $3.33 each, it'll be a bit of a rip-off. Not that S&S hasn't done this before *cough*Honor Blade*cough*.

S&S seems to be varying randomly between $1.99 and $3.99 for their novellas. That said: if this book was in print, I'd expect it to debut as a trade paperback like recent NF books, rather than as a MMPB. So even at $3.99 there's still a savings.

That's a very good point, which completely slipped my mind. The Canadian pricing for TPs is currently at $18.99, so I guess anything less than $6.33 each is a deal. FYI, the Canadian prices for the novellas seem to range from $2.99 to $7.99, but to be fair, most of the recent ones are in the $2.99 to $4.99 range.

 

[James Swallow]

...I wonder if the novel that will presumably be released on the last Tuesday of December 2015 (and therefore advertised for January 2016) will be James Swallow's rumored TOS novel...

It's not rumored; I'm writing it! Can't announce a firm release date yet, though, but it'll be next year.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

I'm looking forward most to "VOY: Atonement" (already pre-ordered) - 'coz it's KFMB, obviously; "DS9: Sacraments of Fire" - 'coz I hope for continuation of the cliffhanger in "Revelation and Dust"); and TTN: Sight Unseen - 'coz I love Titan books, and Swallow's "Synthesis" is my fav from this series).

I'm not joining the "which format of books is better" discussion. I use both. Mostly e-books, because I simply have no more space for paper books and they're a bit cheaper (and I moved too many time across great distances not to appreciate the lack of boxes of books in transit somewhere on a ship on the Indian Ocean ), but there are titles that I sometimes want to own as a paper book.

 

[Christopher]

If the NF novellas really are one novel split into three... why couldn't they just release it as one novel?

As I said, there are only a dozen slots per year for mass-market paperback novels. Maybe those slots were already filled. The e-novellas provide an outlet for additional Trek fiction, and that seems like a good thing to me.

 

[KRAD]

I'm looking forward most to "VOY: Atonement" (already pre-ordered) - 'coz it's KFMB, obviously;

Minor correction: that's KMFB, not KFMB. Although, shouldn't it be NYTBSKMFB?

 

[Enterpriserules]

I personally love the ebooks and that is how I read all my trek books because I hate paperbacks. They are so hard to read without bending the spine and hard to keep open at lunch. Ebooks also allow me not to fill up my shelves with paperbacks, since I read so many other books.

 

[Avro Arrow]

If the NF novellas really are one novel split into three... why couldn't they just release it as one novel?

As I said, there are only a dozen slots per year for mass-market paperback novels. Maybe those slots were already filled. The e-novellas provide an outlet for additional Trek fiction, and that seems like a good thing to me.

My apologies, I wasn't entirely clear. I actually meant, rather than splitting it up, why couldn't they release it as a single eBook exclusive novel? That is, one EPUB file (or whatever your format of choice) at a higher price point, rather than three EPUBs at a lower price point each. It's the same content, in the same eBook only format, just novel-length.

Of course, I'm assuming here that since it is still eBook exclusive, that it wouldn't take one of the twelve MMPB slots. Or are you saying that novel-length releases have to take one of those twelve slots, whether or not they are released in hardcopy?

I agree that the e-novellas are great, but since this one seems to have been originally intended to a single novel-length story, why not just release it like that? I'll still get it either way; I was just curious as to the reasons behind splitting it.

 

[ATimson]

My apologies, I wasn't entirely clear. I actually meant, rather than splitting it up, why couldn't they release it as a single eBook exclusive novel?

I would not be surprised if their license didn't allow it.

 

[Christopher]

If the NF novellas really are one novel split into three... why couldn't they just release it as one novel?

As I said, there are only a dozen slots per year for mass-market paperback novels. Maybe those slots were already filled. The e-novellas provide an outlet for additional Trek fiction, and that seems like a good thing to me.

My apologies, I wasn't entirely clear. I actually meant, rather than splitting it up, why couldn't they release it as a single eBook exclusive novel? That is, one EPUB file (or whatever your format of choice) at a higher price point, rather than three EPUBs at a lower price point each. It's the same content, in the same eBook only format, just novel-length.

Of course, I'm assuming here that since it is still eBook exclusive, that it wouldn't take one of the twelve MMPB slots. Or are you saying that novel-length releases have to take one of those twelve slots, whether or not they are released in hardcopy?

I don't know. I'm only a freelancer, and I don't know the specifics of their publishing policy. But for whatever reason, Star Trek's e-book original line is novella-length and always has been. Anything longer has always been released in two or three parts.


Anyway, do we really know that this was originally meant as one book and split into three? It sounds to me like that's just something people are extrapolating based on what they'd gathered before vs. what they're hearing now. Maybe they just jumped to the wrong conclusions before.

 

[2of1million]

I'm in the ebook camp. They're great with a Kobo/Kindle e-reader. I would love to still be reading paper books, but I can't imagine where I'd put them as I'm out of space. If I read a new book on paper it's usually one I borrowed from the library, then I don't have to worry about that.

 

[Campe]

I just bought a Kindle Paperwhite. It arrives tomorrow. I have tried and tried and tried reading on my iPad and I can't. I've come to the conclusions:

1. The blue light from the iPad does affect my sleeping at night. While this still has blue light, it should not shine up directly into my eyes, so it won't cause as many problems.

2. I'm easily distracted. If I have a device I'm reading on that has other bells and whistles, I'll easily go into another app to read the news, watch something, surf the web, etc. The regular Kindle will hopefully help in that regard to stay focused on the reading part of reading.

Regardless, as much as I love paper books, my apartment isn't huge and its so much more space efficient to have a little device I can keep things on than buy tons and tons of physical books. The regular Kindle (non-tablet) seems like a fair compromise. (Plus I'm really far behind on my reading.)

 

[Gul Re'jal]

I'm looking forward most to "VOY: Atonement" (already pre-ordered) - 'coz it's KFMB, obviously;

Minor correction: that's KMFB, not KFMB. Although, shouldn't it be NYTBSKMFB?

Of course. That's what happens when I just type an abbreviation without saying the words out loud to make sure I'm making it right.

NYTBSKMFB works even better (yes, I just copied it, wouldn't dare it mess this up ).

They are so hard to read without bending the spine and hard to keep open at lunch.

That's why I bend the spine. I always thought that a book was for me to read, and I read it as it's convenient and comfortable for me to do.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I would not be surprised if their license didn't allow it.

I don't know. I'm only a freelancer, and I don't know the specifics of their publishing policy. But for whatever reason, Star Trek's e-book original line is novella-length and always has been. Anything longer has always been released in two or three parts.

Thank you both for your replies.

Anyway, do we really know that this was originally meant as one book and split into three? It sounds to me like that's just something people are extrapolating based on what they'd gathered before vs. what they're hearing now. Maybe they just jumped to the wrong conclusions before.

I personally don't know; I was just going by what others said earlier in the thread. (That's why I prefaced my original question with "If the NF novellas really are one novel split into three...")

 

[Enterpriserules]

I'm in the ebook camp. They're great with a Kobo/Kindle e-reader. I would love to still be reading paper books, but I can't imagine where I'd put them as I'm out of space. If I read a new book on paper it's usually one I borrowed from the library, then I don't have to worry about that.

I am with you, moving as much as I have in the last few years, I have a lot of books still, but you learn what you can live without. Having ebooks means they are always there and unlike paperbacks they are easy to mark up and add notes to as well!

 

[The Wormhole]

As much as I hate to interrupt this engaging debate on e-books vs. print, StarTrek.com has just posted the cover for Uncertain Logic, the next Rise of the Federation book. Here.