What is the difference between numbered and un-numbered novels?

[PimpMario]

Are numbered novels adaptations?

I always thought numbered meant they took place during the time period of the show and the un-numbered didn't?

I could use some help.

I have largely been ignoring the numbered novels because to me, for whatever reason they have a stigma attached to them...?

 

[Sci]

Are numbered novels adaptations?

I always thought numbered meant they took place during the time period of the show and the un-numbered didn't?

I could use some help.

I have largely been ignoring the numbered novels because to me, for whatever reason they have a stigma attached to them...?

There's no real difference between them. Back in the 80s, all novels were numbered except for the ones released originally as hardbacks, and then except for ones that were longer than usual, and then except for ones that were "special." Eventually, unnumbered novels became so common that there was no longer any meaningful difference between them (if there really ever had been), so they stopped numbering them sometime around 2001 or so.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Are numbered novels adaptations?

Not necessarily. None of the novels were numbered - until Pocket Books noticed that numbered book series often held the buyers' loyalty. That instead of buying on impulse (from the cover art or blurb), avid collectors wanted every numbered issue. That's why comic books are numbered. So with TOS novel #16, the titles all began featuring numbers on their covers and booklists were created. And this numbering system even retro-numbered the reprints of the novelizations of TMP and ST II - and ST III became #17 when it first came out.

It did get awkward by the time of ST IV, though. The three previous movie novelizations had to be kept in print, to satisfy the completists who joined the collectors' ranks late and tried to order backstock via the mail order coupons in the back of each novel. ST:TMP made some kind of publishing records for the longetivity of a novelization kept in print long after the movie itself had vanished from cinemas. So ST IV came out with no number. From then on, most novelizations were no longer numbered.

I always thought numbered meant they took place during the time period of the show and the un-numbered didn't?

Nope. After the numbering started, a few "giant" mass market paperbacks were trialled. They sold very well, so they tried unnumbered hardcovers next. They also sold very well. When the hardcovers were reprinted as MMPBs, they had no number.

I have largely been ignoring the numbered novels because to me, for whatever reason they have a stigma attached to them...?

And that's exactly why the numbering was eventually dropped. What was once a draw for collectors becomes a bug bear to the same now-jaded collectors. Once formerly-avid collectors got to TOS #97 they'd be looking for an "out". Pocket realised that any people looking for a chance to "jump ship" finally would simply end their collection at #100.

 

[Steve Roby]

What Sci and Ian said, basically.

I have largely been ignoring the numbered novels because to me, for whatever reason they have a stigma attached to them...?

I think Pocket contributed to this misunderstanding. The numbered books include a lot of classics, but Pocket decided to do occasional big special events (originally the paperback "giant novels" and then the hardcovers), and that may have given the impression that the regular numbered novels were nothing special.

 

[Starbreaker]

So now, instead of numbers, we have people who come on to TrekBBS and ask what order to read them in. It's all a ploy to increase traffic to the website.

 

[Greg Cox]

What they said. There is no special meaning to the numbers. They don't indicate anything about the setting or nature of the books. Basically, it all comes down to:

Pocket Book used to number the books because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Then they changed their minds.

There's really nothing more to it than that.