Book Cover

[zero118]

I'm writing a new book series called Star Trek: Collective Desires. This first book is called "Armada". What I need are some specific things... I'd really like to talk to someone that has experience with high quality renders and models. I can't afford to pay (I'm writing the book, I haven't sold it :P ) but I'd be more than happy to give credit on the cover.

Hit me up!
MSN/Email: shawn@soulwriting.net
Yahoo: zero118

[Andrew March]

Nah, It doesn't work like that mate, first you sell the book to the publishers, then you get a cover artist when you 'CAN' pay them or the publisher gets one for you.

[spudmonkey]

Kind of depends on how you are publishing as there are some sites that you pay an amount to publish the book as is and they print to order and charge the price you set, in which case you would need the cover first. However, as it's a Star Trek book you would need approval from the copyright holder before you attempted to make money from the book though, so that should be the first thing you need to get.

[Andrew March]

I think you'll find that all Star Trek books are published under license by the same publisher and that they decide what goes on the cover.

Think back to when they started scouting for the Titan series of books.

[Sphynx]

You really need to look very closely at what you are doing Zero - essentially these guys are correct. Most franchises of this type simply won't look at outside authors as they have a stable that they farm jobs out to as and when they feel like making money. That sounds really bad, but its effectively true, and the Star Trek franchise is not alone.

The same was true of the Star Wars books a few years back - there was effectively a 'tendering' process undertaken to find the authors long before any of the books were written, and even then the actual basic story lines had already been established by the publisher.

Years ago I wrote three very large volumes regarding the origins of Dr. Who. Everybody who read it said that it was fantastic (inc. those who were given it specifically to rip it apart, and some professional authors). It would have been a great addition to the Dr. Who franchise, even if I do say so myself, as it tied up all sorts of mistakes and errors that crept into the series over the years.

I'm lucky however - I went into it for pure pleasure (I write a lot and very quickly) and was under no illusions as to whether it would ever be published. On the off chance years later (and long before the current series of Dr. Who existed), I went to the BBC. The answer was as expected - they don't talk to outside authors. Period. They did not even look at the book(s).

Whether you choose to pursue this further is your choice, but I'm guessing that if you do it will only ever be able to obtain the level of 'fan-fiction'.

[Andrew March]

Craig's hit the nail on the head, part of the reason is the ongoing struggle of remaining 'on budget' even for a publisher, with book prices continuing to fall and online reading material encroaching on their profits the publishers of major franchises want to rely more and more on existing contract authors.

That's not to say don't go for it, in fact I encourage you to contact pocket books/ simon & schuster, your book may have something that they're looking for but your creative input will pretty much stop with the written word.

Good luck

[al3d]

i've done covers for Stat Trek Books. Trust me..if it was not commissioned but the publishing Cie....you'll ever get it published. And as i was told, they only hire professional writers, other wise they spend twice the money to get the story re-writen in a real english.