A&A Official Star Wars Publishing Q&A thread

Hi is there any limit to the number of pages in a book or is that up to the author ? and i know you cant say but i for one would love a making of the novels with all the answers cut content and ideas you cant get into ! Oh and thanks for doing this !

 

Books are as long as they need to be. There isn't really a limit.

 

Is it a editorial decision to split a book into multiple stories or a marketing one? If there was a 1,000 page SW novel on the horizon, would it stand as 1 book or be split into 2 500 page books?


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Ideally - and usually it would, start as an editorial decision. Does this story, demand the 1,000 page narrative? Or, is there a naturally breaking point in the story that would make sense to split the narrative in two? I would think at the planning/outline stage if you would start to see that the narrative was dense enough to require 1000 pages and pivot to a duology or even trilogy.

My guess is a SW novel would never reach 1000 pages. That's just not really in the history of telling SW stories. It would likely be split. Also at 1000 pages you're going to have to start answering some production questions as well, look at certain binding/paper options to physically put the book together.


Also, to slightly correct your word choice - you're asking if it would be a "business" decision to split the book into multiple stories. Not a marketing one. That's not what marketing is.

 

Thank you for your response. I was trying to be clever with the “marketing angle”. Didn’t know if Business Decision was offensive or not.

As a follow up, I was familiar that there haven’t been 1,000 page SW books historically, and didn’t know if that was something that has just never really been an opportunity, or if the demographics of SW readers “self eliminated” the possibility of it?
Would a Star Wars “Rainbow Six” ever be a possibility or would that be intentionally cut to a duology?


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That they haven't is not the same as saying "they couldn't", but it does seem unlikely given how Star Wars has told stories across mediums over the years. It would probably take a very special story that really demanded that length without any cutting or separation.

 

Was the release date for the Last Jedi novelization pushed back so it would stand out away from the December 15th Star Wars merch deluge, or would a March TLJ novelization release date tie it in with the home video release, or was it simply to allow the author and Del Rey more time to git ur done?

 

Just throwing it out there, but presumably if there was a "1000 page novel" you'd increase the words-per-page to achieve whatever number of pages you wanted. Within reason.

 

The release date wasn't pushed back. The release date that was announced was always the release date. Even if the popular assumption was it would be different.

 

Okay, is there any particular reason that a March release date was chosen?

 

There are reasons for everything we do. Maybe we'll discuss them at another time, but not today. Sorry to disappoint.

 

As an editor, how hard is it to not push your authors to include copious amounts of Ackbar scenes? Asking for a friend...

--Adm. Nick

 

Yep, Lucasfilm Press books, due to publishing contracts between different companies divvying up the market, are hardback in the US and paperback in the UK.

 

It used to be very hard. But then I remembered that Ackbar is very busy, with lots of important things to do and he doesn't have time to drop into every damn Star Wars scene and fix everything. Maybe someone else could get off their butt and fix a problem once in a while. So, it got easier.

On a more serious note - that is a fundamental part of the job. Compartmentalizing the fan part and professional part to do the job well. Obviously being a fan informs my job to some degree, but you have to being serious about interrogating your suggestions, biases, and POV to ensure that you're not just making suggestions cause you want to see a cool thing happen, story/character/etc be damned. They won't really teach you that in any publishing program, but it's a part of the job.

 

I hadn't really thought about this before, but you bring up some excellent points! It must be strange to edit a book with your "professional" hat on and then enjoy it with your "fan" hat on. Like you said, compartmentalizing is key.

--Adm. Nick

 

First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to answer fan questions like this. I always get excited when a content creator communicates openly with their fans.

Secondly, I'll apologize in advance for the tough question. I am an avid fan of The Clone Wars, so naturally I really enjoyed Dark Disciple and I'm hungry for more of those unproduced stories. I know there eight 4-part story arcs that haven't been seen yet in any form, in fact I personally documented everything we know about them here. It sounds like there is some really good stuff we're missing out on, so I'm just curious why Del Rey hasn't adapted more of them? It's seems logical to make use of them, since it should greatly reduce how it long takes to make a book when you've already got a script. Pablo said here that he is willing to work with the publisher's to get more stories out, so why haven't you pursued that more?

 

No need to apologize for asking a question in a considerate manner. However, your question presumes that all of those stories should be realized as novels. They might be better served as comic series, or perhaps re-imagined in another animated series or any of a number of storytelling forms.

There's not a specific reason we haven't adapted any of these (we don't have rules against PT content, or an aversion to working from unproduced TCW work again or anything like that). We just haven't. Might we in the future? Sure maybe. Sorry if you were looking for a more specific answer.

 

Is there respectful and attention grabbing ways that fans can communicate to the powers that be, demand for certain stories?

How does Lucasfilm/Del Rey gauge fan interest in something along the lines of adapting the unfinished arcs or expand on stories that have already been published? Is it sales numbers exclusively, or are there other barometers that help to show where fan interests, and thus sales, lie?



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Thank you for answering! Yes I do recognize that many of the stories would be better for other mediums, but I think a few stories would work. I would expect the Padme/Mon Cala politics arc could make a great novel in a similar style to Bloodline, at least based on what I know about it. I'm glad to hear it is still something you will consider in the future, perhaps a time will come when one of the stories will tie-in nicely to another new movie or TV show. I did not expect your response to be specific at all so no worries about that, I was just curious if it was still on your minds at all.

 

Is it ever frustrating acting in the capacity you do on these forums? Interacting with fans, having demands and speculations thrown out without context, etc. With stuff like people pre-relatively complaining about a book's length, release schedules, and some general anti-Disney sentiments, I imagine it can get pretty tiring.

 

This is off-topic, but I've always found the term "powers that be" disingenuous, particularly when used to describe me and my co-workers. I realize you don't mean it that way. But, we're human beings, not some robot collective. But I digress.

There's no secret really. Just, be vocal on social media. Visit booths at conventions and events and talk to people to share what you want to see. Second, support current stories that are similar to what you want to see more of. Support comes in many ways - again you can be vocal in social spaces, spread the stories to other fans, and of course support them financially. Which leads to your second question.


Certainly sales are always a component. If you make a product and no one buys it - while other factors are likely at play - you're certainly going to re-examine if you should make more similar products. Aside from that, the reason I say be vocal is because we try and listen to our readers as much as we can. There's a reason we spend a lot of time and money to go to conventions all year. And why we are responding to social media messages constantly, even on weekends and holidays. So just keep doing that.

 

Noted re: TPTB.

Thank you very much for your responses. It is greatly appreciated. Now come to a convention near Indiana, so I can buy you a beer (or drink of your choice).


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Why has the THE CLONE WARS novelization never been reprinted in paperback format?

 

Demand never necessitated such a reprint.