What happens when a Trek book is sold out and out of print?

[Dream]

I was thinking about starting the Destiny trilogy since I keep hearing how good it is, but it is currently sold out on Amazon and the book store nearby. Obviously I won't start reading if the middle part of the store is completely missing. Anyone know what Pocket does when Trek books go out of print? Do they just stop printing? Will new copies of Destiny II show up in the future on Amazon?

 

[Relayer1]

Destiny is still in a lot of shops here in the U.K. and on Amazon U.K. and Amazon marketplace, plus for Kindle. It's also just been republished all in one volume. It's also available on Ebay.

Loads of ways to get it !

 

[Hugh Cambridge]

Well in the case of Destiny, the trilogy was reprinted in paperback as a whole.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I was thinking about starting the Destiny trilogy since I keep hearing how good it is, but it is currently sold out on Amazon and the book store nearby.

All three books in one volume:
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Des...47620202&sr=8-1&keywords=destiny+trek+omnibus

Anyone know what Pocket does when Trek books go out of print? Do they just stop printing?

It's a case by case basis. In this case, they published an omnibus reprint.

 

[Dream]

Pocket collected the three books into one novel?! Thanks for telling me this! I just put the omnibus on my Wish List.

This is actually nice. Don't need another three small books on the shelf when it can be combined. I'll make sure to check if a trilogy is collected as a single omnibus in the future if one of the segements get sold out.

Amazon is my go to place for books. Whever books get out of print, I become so disappointed.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

bookdepository.co.uk is frequently cheaper, and charges no postage. They have Destiny as one book or as separate books.

 

[Dream]

bookdepository.co.uk is frequently cheaper, and charges no postage. They have Destiny as one book or as separate books.

I live in the US. Shipping charges from the UK would kill me!

EDIT: Never mind, looks like they have free shipping.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

yep free shipping! I order from them all the time. They often have out of print stuff too, got some Bablyon 5 books from them.

 

[Hugh Cambridge]

And they are very quick for the deliveries: I usually get the books in the days following the publication (I got "the eternal tide" the 31 th of august )

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Try Abebooks.com

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

And Alibris. (And note that if you're an Amtrak Guest Rewards member, Alibris gives points, as long as you enter via the Guest Rewards portal.)

 

[Defcon]

bookdepository.co.uk is frequently cheaper, and charges no postage. They have Destiny as one book or as separate books.

I live in the US. Shipping charges from the UK would kill me!

EDIT: Never mind, looks like they have free shipping.

And since they're owned by Amazon it isn't even that big a change for you.

 

[JD]

One of the advantages of going over to E-books is that pretty much every Pocket Trek book is available in that format. Of all of the Trek books Pocket has published, I've only come across two or three that aren't available as E-books.

 

[Greg Cox]

One of the advantages of going over to E-books is that pretty much every Pocket Trek book is available in that format. Of all of the Trek books Pocket has published, I've only come across two or three that aren't available as E-books.

And, alas, some of them are mine . . . . .

 

[CNash]

How do our authors feel about buying from second-hand booksellers (on eBay etc.) while their novels are still in print? I'm in the computer games industry, and there's a growing movement to demonise second-hand game sales, as the developers don't get any money for them and the consumer still gets the same experience as if they'd bought the game new. I'm curious as to whether the publishing world has the same concerns.

 

[Greg Cox]

How do our authors feel about buying from second-hand booksellers (on eBay etc.) while their novels are still in print? I'm in the computer games industry, and there's a growing movement to demonise second-hand game sales, as the developers don't get any money for them and the consumer still gets the same experience as if they'd bought the game new. I'm curious as to whether the publishing world has the same concerns.

I admit I cringe a bit when I see used copies on sale at amazon practically the moment a new book sees print, but I've spent too much time rummaging through used bookstores myself to get too worked up about it, which would be horribly hypocritical on my part. And I have many fond memories of scouring through boxes of used paperbacks at some convention dealer room looking for a bargain.

The way I see it, I got paid the first time the book sold, so what happens after that is none of my business (as long as somebody doesn't post the entire text on the internet, of course). It's like a library sale. I got paid when the library bought the book, but I don't expect to get paid every time somebody checks it out.

Beyond that, there's always the hope that you'll find new readers that way. Maybe somebody will pick up a dog-eared old STAR TREK novel at a yard sale, fall in love with it, and decide to swing by the STAR TREK shelf the next time they're at a bookstore . . . .

At least that's how it's supposed to work.

 

[Astraea]

One of the advantages of going over to E-books is that pretty much every Pocket Trek book is available in that format. Of all of the Trek books Pocket has published, I've only come across two or three that aren't available as E-books.

^This is very true (although I don't think that the older children's/YA novels have been released in e-Book format.) The main disadvantage to some of the e-Books is that there's something wrong with the formatting. I just got a NOOK and have been re-buying copies of my favorite Trek books in NOOK form, but some of the older books have issues with not having any quotation marks or apostrophes. Two of the older TNG novels I've purchased so far have had that problem, while others have had more minor but slightly annoying issues, like randomly hyphenating a character name or having a font that doesn't take well to being altered. So if you do buy e-Books, download the preview first to see if it's okay, and if you can live with an imperfect version if it's not. Thus far, the newer books like Destiny or The Eternal Tide seem to be better about it, but it's probably best to check.

Also, this is a slightly OT question, but does anyone know why the eBook prices vary so much? It makes sense to me that newer books are generally more expensive, but some of the numbered books will bounce between $5.99-$8.99. (It was really odd to me that the e-Book versions of some early numbered novels are more than the giant novels.)

Anyway, Destiny is terrific and definitely worth the price, whether you're getting it as an eBook, used book, or omnibus.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

Beyond that, there's always the hope that you'll find new readers that way. Maybe somebody will pick up a dog-eared old STAR TREK novel at a yard sale, fall in love with it, and decide to swing by the STAR TREK shelf the next time they're at a bookstore . . . .

At least that's how it's supposed to work.

It still works Greg, that's how I got started

 

[Therin of Andor]

I got paid when the library bought the book, but I don't expect to get paid every time somebody checks it out.

In Australia, my friend Libby Gleeson led a campaign that resulted in the successful Public & Educational Lending Rights schemes:

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s317429.htm

http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/educational_lending_right_73.html

 

[Therin of Andor]

Also, this is a slightly OT question, but does anyone know why the eBook prices vary so much? ... (It was really odd to me that the e-Book versions of some early numbered novels are more than the giant novels.)

IIRC, some of the electronic files of older Pocket novels were damaged/lost/incompatible with modern eBook-formatting programs, requiring the novels to be re-typeset. Different authors used different word processing files. A similar incompatibility results in some files losing quotation marks, etc., in the conversion process. There is usually insufficient $$$ left in the eBook publishing budget to employ a new round of tight line-editing.