Text 43, 55 rader
Skriven 2004-08-14 16:27:00 av Kevin Karmann (1:278/230)
Ärende: Novel:
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Herrin" <therrin@bellsouth.net>
>"Kevin Karmann" <kevin@bbsworld.com> wrote:
>>weren't forced to expand into two books).  For example, I could see the
>>current TNG "A Time to..." series that has four two-book stories and a
>>single novel conclusion as being sold as simply five novels.   Most of the
>
>True, but that would generate less money.

Maybe, maybe not.   To my knowledge, Trek novels no longer make the New York
Times Best Seller lists with any regularity (and haven't for quite a while),
even though they managed to achieve that goal with a great deal of
regularity back in the late '80s/early '90s.

Granted, there are probably several forces at work.   While I'm not sure
it's fair to say there's more competition in SF novels these days, there is
certainly a greater deal of availability now that a "bookstore" isn't a
relatively small shop, but a "supercenter."   And there are certainly more
media tie-ins to other series than there used to be (not just STAR WARS, as
in the old days, but BUFFY, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, SMALLVILLE and many other
genre shows have novels these days).  Heck, there's competition among Trek
novels themselves, as multiple books come out each month and there's always
a healthy stock of older books.  Plus, there's all the other things (TV,
movies, DVDs, the Internet) competing for time and/or money.

Still, I think a really good book should be able to rise above that without
any gimick like being part of a "saga" or something like that.   Ultimately,
that could easily backfire -- turning what would've been in the old days an
"event" into basically nothing special.

Now, as I've said, I really like the DS9 relaunch as well as the New
Frontier series.   I'm even looking forward to the post-Nemesis TNG books
(set on the Enterprise-E or Titan).   But I think the reason why these books
have sold better than standalones of a few years ago (as Pocket claims)
isn't so much that they're part of a series, but that they're probably being
more careful in what they're publishing (as they're investing a great deal
more on an individual story), as well as the fact that Paramount is giving
more freedom to the authors.   There was a period (maybe four or so years
ago) when the novels seemed to be declining quite a bit in quality, on
average, but I think the more recent books *have* been better.  And that's
the main reason I'd say they're selling more books...

Kevin





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