posted
I'd love to see the book published. It's too bad it wouldn't sell. The fact that Pocket Books filled the market with lots of books of this type, good and bad, before finding this out, hardly invalidates the point.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Or, for that matter, the fact that such books once sold but no longer do.
Look, I haven't bought a Trek book in a long time because they haven't been putting out anything I want to read. I'd love a Voyager technical manual, or a revised encyclopedia, or a huge book of starship stuff. But it isn't going to happen for all sorts of reasons, and signing a petition isn't going to change that.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The only way any of this is going to make any difference is if you get some sort of dialogue going with Margaret Clark. She's the editor of the "Nonfiction" Star Trek books and as such, has control over what happens in that arena.
The problem is actually getting in touch with Margaret. She seems to have a hard time replying to comments on the S&S site, on psiphi, or anywhere else for that matter.
Without her knowledge and participation, creating a petition is just so much jerking off.
That said, if you manage to shake Margaret out of torpor, I'll be the first to run up, sign my name, and shake your hand for doing what hundreds have tried and failed to accomplish.
Let me know when you hear from her.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by AndrewR: Buffy season 5 was better than Angel season 2
You are plainly wrong.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
My thoughts, with this whole effort, are that if enough interest, in the form of emails to Pocket Books, can be generated that this alone might solicit a response from Margaret Clark.
Once that is achieved, we might be able to determine, from Margaret, what (if anything) can be done to save the book. Maybe something along the lines of the petition several years ago for the Capt. Sulu book.
I don't know the answer. I am just hoping that if this effort can spread to enough Trek websites and forums that some type of response can be obtained from Pocket Books. That response would then determine what follow up actions are required. Like I said in an earlier post - some effort to save this book is worth a try.
Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by AndrewR: Buffy season 5 was better than Angel season 2
You are plainly wrong.
Says you Liam.
Season 2 Angel started out good... that whole Pilea story-line just let the whole season down.
There were, of course so fantastic moments. Generally the first half of the season. Dru 'turning' Darla. That caught me VERY unawares. At the same time - Dru back on Buffy was crapola - she's best to stay on Angel and wreek havoc!
Andrew
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote:Originally posted by AndrewR: Angel season 1 was better than Buffy season 4 Buffy season 5 was better than Angel season 2 Angel season 3 was better than Buffy season 6
And season 2 of Angel wasn't shabby either - it's just that the entire season 5 was brill.
quote:Originally posted by RichKnapp: My thoughts, with this whole effort, are that if enough interest, in the form of emails to Pocket Books, can be generated that this alone might solicit a response from Margaret Clark. (emphasis added)
That's where you're going wrong. Nobody in authority, from politicians to producers to editors gives a flying crap about emails.* You've gotta do it on paper for it to make a difference, and there's no way you're going to get more than a handful of people to write letters on this one. Even if you did, it would have to be a hell of a lot of people.
John Ordover agreed to a letter-writing campaign once. He said that if he received a thousand letters by a certain date asking for an Excelsior novel, he'd do one. He got around eight hundred, and I dare say there is more interest in any novel than a coffee table book. It's a shame, because I really wanted to see Unseen Frontier, but that's life.
On the other hand, maybe patience will prevail. Pocket is currently producing not one but two Excelsior novels under Marco Palmieri, completely unrelated to the letter campaign. The Centaur and Sphinx from UF have already made their way into other publications, I would be surprised if a lot more didn't, even the actual scenes.
* Incidentally, there is a decent reason for this. It is very easy for one person to send many emails from different accounts, and there is little way to prove they came from different people. Snail mail has the advantage of taking both more effort and more money, in the form of ink, paper, and postage. People are less likely to forge a massive letter-writing campagin than one over email.
quote:Without her knowledge and participation, creating a petition is just so much jerking off.
That said, if you manage to shake Margaret out of torpor, I'll be the first to run up, sign my name, and shake your hand for doing what hundreds have tried and failed to accomplish.
When you put those two statements together I don't know if anyone wants to shake your hand.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
OTOH (Sorry, Grocka, I've got two), the best way to show that there's a market is to buy the "non-fiction books."
At the moment, this is easy, because the new Star Charts book is probably the most important Trek reference book since the encyclopedia.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Actually, e-mail does carry weight in some sectors, though not, to be sure, those involved in, uh, materal production and stuff. Like, I hear that an e-mail sent to your local congressman is more likely to be read than a letter. (Both because they may still be irradiating the Congressional mail and because it's easier for staffers to print out a bunch of e-mails and hand them over than to wrangle a bunch of separate letters.) But, anyway, as far as this goes, I agree with Ryan.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
It really IS a shame that the book won't get published but I have just written an e-mail to Pocket Books anyway. I am hoping they do send me an answer. At least they did some years ago when I asked something about the Encyclopedia.
-------------------- Lister: Don't give me the "Star Trek" crap! It's too early in the morning. - Red Dwarf "The Last Day"
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Quite likely. Anyway, I'll just hope for the best.
-------------------- Lister: Don't give me the "Star Trek" crap! It's too early in the morning. - Red Dwarf "The Last Day"
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
First of all, to address the most recent comments, I have already bought two copies of the Star Charts book -- one to keep nice and one to tear apart to make a wall map out of.
I also have a near-complete library of Trek coffee table and reference books, and there is an annoying phenomenon about that that Pocket Books seems to have missed...
The novels sort of have a built-in readership. People go to the book stores periodically to see what new novels are out. The technical works are more sporadic and follow no set schedule. Unless one makes a point of checking the S&S web site, or is a consistent reader of the Magazine and Communicator, they're not going to know about hte impending release of one of these technical books.
For instance, the TNG Tech Manual was released in the fall of 1991 (if I remember correctly). I didn't find out about it until the late spring of '92 when I wandered into a Waldenbooks while I was waiting for the bus. It hadn't been advertised in any of the places the people who would by such a book would have had it thrust upon their consciousness. S&S don't realize they have to market/advertise these books in a different way from the novels. I know the technical and reference books would sell better if they advertised on TV or in conventional print media (like Smithsonian Air & Space or the monthly newsletter from Jane's Information Group). And it doesn't take all that much money to do a half- or full-page ad or include it in a 15- or 30-second TV spot to inform about new publications...
But that, of course, is all just my opinion...
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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