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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

A&A Official Star Wars Publishing Q&A thread

Discussion in 'Literature' started by GrandAdmiralJello , Oct 13, 2017.

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  1. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 7, 2017
    As a matter of practice, we don't usually share material like that, even if a project is cancelled outright. Early projects are often in a very rough form, the ideas not fully fleshed out yet or ready for any kind of public consumption. Or, sometimes material gets recycled into other projects, in either a direct way, or more thematically as foundation or inspiration for a different story.

    And particularly given the fervor around SoJ I would be loathe to ever share any details, since, again, even years later we receive consistent messages and demands that we release these books that we have secreted away in some final form. I don't want to encourage that behavior/thinking in any way.
     
  2. revan772

    revan772 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 5, 2014
    Thank you for your reply. I do not think that they are hidden away, like some, but my optimism still is there that maybe one day Disney will give the thumbs up to do that story arc for Jaina. Thank you again for the reply though, I always love to learn more about the "behind the scenes" on Star Wars books. :)
     
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  3. BookExogorth

    BookExogorth Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    May 4, 2017
    What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the process of putting a SW book together? @DarthInternous
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2018
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  4. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 7, 2017
    Favorite: Developing manuscripts and helping authors craft stories. Obvious? Yes. As fun as it seems? Equally yes.

    Least Fav: Very little related to actually getting the book made. There's an administrative aspect to publishing. Certain kinds of documents and reports that need to be put together for production/sales, etc. which can at times become tedious and feel unnecessary (despite being useful to others).
     
  5. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    @DarthInternous

    Is there a particular book or role you played in editing one that you enjoyed and/or are particularly proud of?

    Also- in your role, do you ever interact with folks on the Story Group if a question comes up during editing, or is that left to the author?

    --Adm. Nick
     
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  6. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 7, 2017
    My specific contributions or accomplishments aren't really things I'm comfortable highlighting. Getting to work with the entire SW books team is pretty much the best job. Though I'll say that putting together the recent Canto Bight book was quite enjoyable.

    As to your second question - yes, absolutely. We work with the SG and other Lucasfilm teams throughout the life of a book and facilitate the authors interactions with them. Or (in many cases) help resolve the issues ourselves.
     
  7. bsmith7174

    bsmith7174 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2015
    What stories would you recommend to anyone wanting to dive in to the new canon?
     
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  8. lordpixie

    lordpixie Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 30, 2015
    Hi if you can say or not ? in the past has george lucas ever had any input into a legends book or has kathleen kennedy in the new canon ?
     
  9. Jedi Princess

    Jedi Princess Jedi Master star 4

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    Mar 25, 2014
    I see what you did there.
     
  10. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

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    Feb 7, 2017
    I'm going to assume this a serious question and not just a fun little gag involving bolding. Perhaps it is both. Regardless.

    I usually refuse to make any book recommendations without getting additional information from a reader. Everyone has different interests and they all come to Star Wars and the novels differently. While there are many people who have a go-to book that they recommend to everyone who asks this question, I reject that approach. If pressed, I'll give my personal lists of favorite, but again I don't feel like it's my place to enforce some arbitrary standard of "you must start here" when it comes to reading SW. Unfortunately, I see many readers who do seem to approach new readers that way. It's actually a form of gate-keeping (even if not a particularly insidious one).

    So, before we get into talking about any books at all, I would ask this new reader questions about their favorite characters, the movies they love the most, if they have any questions about SW they've always wanted answers to, or aspects of the saga that they want a deeper understanding of. From there I'll make book recommendations. It's about treating readers as individuals, rather than generalizing about them and what they care about because they happen to like Star Wars.
     
  11. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    I never really thought about it but now that you mention it it looks like the ALTA line was a post-reboot thing--how and why did that become a rule?
     
  12. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

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    Feb 7, 2017
    It was just another subtle piece of branding to differentiate books between Legends and canon at the time, which we liked and became part of the core design.
     
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  13. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    This one is a bit left-field but it is SW-related. Got a new user who signed up to ask about a book his son has. Thread is here. Basically he has a copy of the 2004 Scholastic YA book SW Boba Fett #6 Pursuit. The spine of the book should say Star Wars but the 'Wars' is missing. It just has the background printing. (He has a small pic of it as his profile pic). Now I have the same book - same printing info and ISBN and mine is complete. Do you know if there's any kind of market for books with misprinted covers? Would this be considered a rarity?
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
  14. revan772

    revan772 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 5, 2014
    I have a question. You know how Marvel is able to reprint some Dark Horse comics under their label? Well, would Del Rey be able to rerelease Star Wars novels that are not Del Rey published, like this? http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Junior_Jedi_Knights:_The_Golden_Globe
    Or if not, if any other publishers are on here, would books like these ever have a chance of being reprinted?
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
  15. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Or even get unabridged audio releases or ebook releases?
     
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  16. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

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    Feb 7, 2017
    I've met a few SW readers who collect misprints and defects, but not many, and for the most part they seem to be looking for defects of popular books like HttE or the like. It might be considered a rarity of sorts, but you'd have to find the right collector to get any kind of real value out of it.
     
  17. bsmith7174

    bsmith7174 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2015
    Do you learn about new movies/shows before the general public does? Or is it more like "hey they just announced this thing so we should look into doing a tie-in novel"?
     
  18. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

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    Feb 7, 2017
    Answering both questions via one reply:
    Publishers are only able to print/reprint books that they have the rights to make. So if DR were given rights to old books - like ones from Scholastic that are out of print with no one else holding the rights - it could happen. But, that's probably pretty unlikely. Ebook releases would be the same issue. You need to have the rights to those titles to do anything with them.

    As for unabridged audios, that's a bit of a different animal.

    Abridge audios came from a time when the market for audio books was very very small, and the main consumers were either people with long drives, or people who wanted to experience a book but didn't have time. Hence, the abridged version.

    To do an unabridged version would require a brand new recording of the entire book. Essentially, it'd be treated as a brand new book. For the resources involved, the benefit probably wouldn't be there for an audio publisher, they'd be better off using those resources on a brand new book. All this, even though the audio book market has definitely exploded over the last few years.
     
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  19. revan772

    revan772 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 5, 2014
    Aww, well hopefully they can be rereleased again someday. I really enjoyed the Junior Jedi Knights and would not mind the Boba Fett young reader books getting republished either as mine are all torn up lol.
     
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  20. JABoomer

    JABoomer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2009
    Has there been a conscious decision by Lucasfilm and the book publishers to keep us in suspense and announce upcoming titles closer to the release date?
     
  21. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

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    Feb 7, 2017
    No. Every announcement and release period is different. Thrawn Alliances was announced last Oct for a July release. The JtTLJ books were announced around 6 months in advance. FACPOV had a long lead time. Etc etc etc.

    Sometimes books will have a long lead time, sometimes they won't.
     
  22. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 7, 2017
    Sry. Double post.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2018
  23. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2013
    On this, is this why the books come in varying size in paperback form? To be a bit more unique? I used to like the Legends books all sitting neatly on my shelf, all relatively the same size.
     
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  24. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2013
    .
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2018
  25. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

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    Feb 7, 2017
    Certainly is part of the reason.
     
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