The New Editors of the Star Trek Book Series

[JB2005]

You certainly can't go wrong with exploration but game changing events like destroying the Federation certainly turn me off. How that plays into JJ's hand I don't know.

Even now, he's sat in his bunker with a model of the Enterprise with *even bigger* nacelles whispering "Now Risa is gone, soon my precious"

So there has to he some marketing strategy going on in the mind of the editors and not just it seems being limited to the writers who've locked the Trek universe into their own sandboxes.

Yeah this is my fear too...I mean right now the Trek 24th Century is in the hands of people whose books are not only enjoyable and extremely well written, but go so far as to give explanations for the short-comings and mistakes made in live-action Trek...

They can teeter all they want, in fact it'll probably boost sales somewhat by scaring people into thinking the franchise is dying but it's still not going to make me buy a book.

Yeah...Trek's pretty much on its last legs, what with it only being able to sustain publishing 12 books a year and the last film only grossing in excess of $385,000,000...

First: Sorry if I was a bit crankier than necessary yesterday. I really shouldn't post when I have a heavy cold, I guess.

I have my doubts that Keith is writing tons of self-published stuff because he really wants to, especially given what he's said on LJ about his financial situation. The advance from a Star Trek novel sounds like something he could use.

Yeah, I always cringe whenever someone here makes it sound as if KRAD has decided to turn his back on Star Trek to do original stuff, whereas the increase in original stuff pretty much is him making the best of the situation (Having stuff out there you have the copyright on is never bad, I guess).

Since I'm a huge fan of his writing, I made an effort to get the reviews for his original stuff (SCPD: The Case of the Claw, Scattered Earth: Guilt in Innocence, Unicorn Precinct) out as fast as possible and spread the word about it. If you like his Star Trek stuff, you should really give his original stuff a look.

But while were talking about KRAD and the ST editors: In this interview with KRAD on the G&T show it sounded as if Margaret Clark is back in bigger capacity than the freelance work we already know about. I wonder if I'm only misunderstanding what Keith said, if he is wrong, or if she is really back in charge. The comment in question starts around the 54:15 mark.

It must be an old podcast? Because that was the situation, but my understanding was it's changed now...

 

[xortex]

Well to quote Armeggedon, now it's teetering on all three axis. Never said that was a bad thing as it can never be but they have to think about the franchise as a whole and what direction it should or shouldn't take as it's always gonna make money but there is a point of diminishing returns that pre JJ was was very obvious. Revitalized? sure but bringing back the original universe and Kirk and the Enterprise will do that to a franchise. Will it stay that way on top? Huh, competition is coming. To stay vital it should keep it's oxygen airways clear and not cluttered with war complications etc. I like high concepts in my soup, not warmed over leftovers.

 

[Starbreaker]

I don't understand what you are talking about. We have TOS books, TNG books, DS9 books, VOY books, Titan books, crossovers, mirror universe novels, Vanguard novels, etc. The narrative of all the series but TOS is being pushed forward. The new movie made hundreds of millions and it was critically acclaimed. What exactly are you looking for? If it's books and movies personally catered to your tastes, you're probably going to be waiting a long time.

 

[Defcon]

It must be an old podcast? Because that was the situation, but my understanding was it's changed now...

It was recorded last week, that's why I'm a bit confused.

 

[JD]

Well I hope they are careful in which series avenues they open up and take as bad one will have the tendancy to constrict and close up vast areas in a hurry leaving Trek in the ER room again and fewer and fewer options to regain it's health and not just take the fork in the road as soon as they see it. I call that the old 'Send in the tanks routine'. Ie responding to an emergancy before there is one. If some of these are blind alleys they should be closed or better developed and/or overlapped and combined.

You certainly can't go wrong with exploration but game changing events like destroying the Federation certainly turn me off. How that plays into JJ's hand I don't know. So there has to he some marketing strategy going on in the mind of the editors and not just it seems being limited to the writers who've locked the Trek universe into their own sandboxes.

They can teeter all they want, in fact it'll probably boost sales somewhat by scaring people into thinking the franchise is dying but it's still not going to make me buy a book.

Well to quote Armeggedon, now it's teetering on all three axis. Never said that was a bad thing as it can never be but they have to think about the franchise as a whole and what direction it should or shouldn't take as it's always gonna make money but there is a point of diminishing returns that pre JJ was was very obvious. Revitalized? sure but bringing back the original universe and Kirk and the Enterprise will do that to a franchise. Will it stay that way on top? Huh, competition is coming. To stay vital it should keep it's oxygen airways clear and not cluttered with war complications etc. I like high concepts in my soup, not warmed over leftovers.

You do realize that just because the franchise is going in a direction you don't like, that doesn't mean it's dieing right? And just because they're changing things up doesn't mean it's coming to an end, it just isn't the way it used to be. You're attitude honestly baffles me. I can understand not liking the current direction things are going in, but I really don't see where that leads to all of these predictions of the franchise's death. And as for the ends of some of the series, I really think that probably has more to do with the change in editors than it does the health of the franchise. I wouln't be suprised if in the next year or two we see some new series starting up. Hell, we've already gotten one DTI, with another on the way, so it's possibly even started already.

And I don't see why you keep throwing everything at JJ Abrams feet. All did was direct one movie, other than that he hasn't really had anything to do with the franchise as a whole. And even with the movie, all he did was direct it, the story came entirely from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and they're (or at least Roberto Orci) the ones who've been working with the movie tie-ins.

 

[JB2005]

^ Well Orci and Kurtzman have both said they read some of the novels....but surely that's good?

 

[Therin of Andor]

it's still not going to make me buy a book.

Then why are you here?

 

[Starbreaker]

Because JJ is the antichrist or something. I don't really understand.

 

[Christopher]

And I don't see why you keep throwing everything at JJ Abrams feet. All did was direct one movie, other than that he hasn't really had anything to do with the franchise as a whole. And even with the movie, all he did was direct it, the story came entirely from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and they're (or at least Roberto Orci) the ones who've been working with the movie tie-ins.

(emphasis added)

That's misunderstanding the role of the director in the feature film industry. The leading creative decision-makers in feature films are the director and the producer, with the screenwriters following their lead -- and Abrams was both director and producer (with Damon Lindelof) on ST 2009. Also, since Abrams and his fellow producers of the Trek films all come from a TV background, they have a "writer's room" approach to the process, with the entire "Supreme Court" of Abrams, Lindelof, Burk, Kurtzman, and Orci collaborating on the decision-making. Abrams was closely involved with K&O in shaping the first film's story. He would've also done the final rewrite on their script if the writers' strike hadn't prevented it, but after the strike ended, he still made what adjustments he could in shooting and post-production. Because that's what feature film directors do: they rework the script as they go, treating it as a starting point rather than an inviolable set of instructions.

 

[JD]

Oh, I didn't realize he was that involved with the story.

 

[NextGen123]

I look forward more to the Mirror Universe books than the regular series. I wish there were more dramatic story arcs like that in the regular Trek Universe. When I picked up David Mack’s Rise Like Lions, I had to take the afternoon off to read the book. It’s Un-Put-Downable. Why can’t all the Trek books be like that?

 

[Sci]

I look forward more to the Mirror Universe books than the regular series. I wish there were more dramatic story arcs like that in the regular Trek Universe. When I picked up David Mack’s Rise Like Lions, I had to take the afternoon off to read the book. It’s Un-Put-Downable. Why can’t all the Trek books be like that?

I'm really not sure what you mean. What makes you think the other TREK lines lack dramatic arcs?

 

[JD]

^Yeah, I thought we got some pretty good dramatic arcs throughout the first 12 or 13 DS9R books, dealing with the Romulan split, and leading up to and through Destiny. And then there's Vanguard, which is all one highly dramatic arc.

 

[NextGen123]

The book by David Mack,Rise Like Lions, has more drama than the entire Typhon Pact series. Being a lifelong fan of Trek and it's books I have to say if he's writing another saga, I hope he gets to write it from begining to end like the 3 part Destiny series.

I am not going to name authors; but there are some books that just slowly drag you through and then there are others like Rise Like Lions, where you want to finish the book in one sitting.

 

[NextGen123]

Another question I would ask the book editors would be if the DS9 saga is going to continue with it's current story line or will that be changed with the new editors?

 

[Christopher]

Another question I would ask the book editors would be if the DS9 saga is going to continue with it's current story line or will that be changed with the new editors?

What do you mean by "current?" The editorial change happened several years ago, and the storyline that existed before the change has already given way to a new one set several years further in the future.

 

[Greg Cox]

Another question I would ask the book editors would be if the DS9 saga is going to continue with it's current story line or will that be changed with the new editors?

Again, there aren't any new editors. It isn't like some new regime has come sweeping in. I'm working with the same editor I was working with six years ago.

Pocket hasn't hired a new Trek editor in ages . . . .

 

[Christopher]

^I think NextGen123 meant "new" relative to DS9 specifically, i.e. the folks who took over after Marco was gone. But as I said, that change happened several years ago, so the question seems oddly anachronistic.

 

[Greg Cox]

^I think NextGen123 meant "new" relative to DS9 specifically, i.e. the folks who took over after Marco was gone. But as I said, that change happened several years ago, so the question seems oddly anachronistic.

Perhaps, but I could see people taking the thread title literally and blowing it out of proportion. This is the internet, after all!

("I heard they've got brand-new editors who are changing everything!")

So I figured it couldn't hurt to make it clear that no new regime has come sweeping in.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Well, I guess since the films have new overlords (although that happened in '07), I can see why someone might assume the books underwent a similar shake-up.