A&A Official Star Wars Publishing Q&A thread

With all of the new Star Wars movie/TV content coming up (Solo, Episode IX, Rian Johnson's trilogy, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' movie series, Jon Favreau's live-action TV series, Dave Filoni's next animated TV series, and anything else as-of-yet unannounced), are we going to start seeing 99% novel adaptations and tie-ins? Certainly both types of novels have been great so far (e.g. Catalyst was great), but I'd love to keep seeing things like the Aftermath trilogy (yea yea, I enjoyed those...), Thrawn books, Bloodline, etc. that aren't necessarily directly tied to a specific movie or TV series. Is this a valid concern?

 

There's always space for both original novels and more specifically tied in works/novelizations.

 

That's been a concern of mine as of late. With all the content going to the big screen and small tv, I feel that the novels have been pushed to the side. No longer are we seeing these big shattering stories being told in adult novel format. I hope that changes and that some big story exclusive to the novels are being considered.

 

This might not be the right place to ask this, but - conducting a little bit of personal research here.

In a few sentences, what do you think a book editor actually does? What led you to that impression/conclusion?

(There's no correct answer here. I'm specifically looking for personal opinions/impressions.)

 

My own personal understanding of an editor's duties is that they essentially take an author's work in its rawest form and make both corrections and suggestions. Corrections dealing with the more technical aspects of the writing, and suggestions with the actual narrative itself in ways that might make the reading experience more coherent and smooth for the reader. That's the impression I've gotten from the various interviews with authors I've seen or read over the years.

 

I'd see your role as a meeting point between author (or agent) and publisher. I'd imagine you or your staff go through submitted manuscripts for ones worthy of publishing consideration and see the chosen ones through to publication. This is from what I have seen online and in the UK writing magazines I subscribe to.

 

Exactly this.

 

I think a book editor's job is to be a go between for the writer and publishing company, as well as serving as someone who can give advice and assistance to the writer when needed. No in a co-writer way but more in the sense of peer review. I guess I got this perception from hearing you talk about your job here and on twitter.

 

I think that a book editor's job is like the sports agent of sports. A player gets an agent, who sifts through offers and then lands the player with the right team, negotiating the contract, and all that. That's how I looked at a book editor's job, on top of coordinating the story to be told, in how many books, in what kind of format, to corrections/additions/deletions, and most important as the in between person between the licencee and the contractor or something like that. Its not an easy that's for sure. Your not dealing with just one author or title, but multiple ones all at the same time.

On a side note, I do hope that Lucasfilm/Del Rey consider doing multi-novels. I miss those from the prior Legends. I also would love to see a type of Shadow of the Empire style collaboration where you have the prequel novel, a movie, comic book series, and sequel novel. Each telling a story woven and tied in together.

 

I have always thought an editor just proof reads and edits the book to make sure there is proper grammar, spelling, ect. Also to kind of check inconsistencies. (If Darth Hands gets his left hand cut off, he may make sure Darth Hands does not duel wield lightsabers).

I also have another question. For characters in Legends that have not been reestablished in canon (examples could include Ikrit, Set Harth, ect. Again, just examples.) do you have to get permission to use said characters in every situation? I figure the bigger characters would be almost definite. Like Kyp Duron, he originated in a novel, but would you have to go through a complex process to get him in? Or characters like Terrinald Screed who is already mentioned (and killed off screen) in novels. Is that something you have to okay with first or just threw in? And is there a big difference for being able to pull a character like Screed as opposed to a character like Talon Kardde? Where is the line in the sand?

 

It is not a question of getting permission vs throwing someone in. There's going to be consideration for all characters, regardless of how big they are. The consideration comes from the story you are trying to tell and the opportunities that story gives you for introducing or utilizing specific types of characters. Part of that consideration is always a conversation of "why do we want to use Legends character X?" Which is the same conversation we have about any character, original, canon, etc. So it isn't any more complex than usual.

Since all stories - great and small - go through development and revision cycles, every character, from the biggest main ones, right on down to the tiny cameo appearances is going to be approved and reviewed.

 

Thanks for the insight, DI. Piggybacking off of this exchange, though, I’m curious about how intellectual property rights (maybe a different side of the coin to revan772’s creative “permission”) play into the approval/reviewal process.

If a novelist working with Del Rey would like to use (in any capacity) a Star Wars character who originated in a comic or a video game, and this character’s appearance in the novel is deemed appropriate to the story, does Del Rey then have to procure consent from, say, Marvel or EA? Or does the character, as a denizen of the GFFA, belong to Lucasfilm, thus sidestepping that kind of red tape?

 

Star Wars characters belong to Star Wars.

 

Cool, thanks. I guess that’s pretty obvious, but I figured I’d ask.

 

Can you elaborate on what the real job description is?

 

For years I thought of editors as proofreaders. But in the past five years I developed a greater appreciation for the their role. An editor serves as somewhat of a buffer for the author and all the other noise. A good story can crumble if you have to many voices pulling different directions. The editor helps an author to minimize the number of voices interfering with the process. As the main outlet for the author, an editor also has to be brutally honest in their constructive criticism.

The other part of the editors job consists of dealing with the business side of things so the author can focus on providing the best product without having to focus on everything else.

I guess I kind of see a good editor as Ari Gold with books.


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Many of the answers here have been pretty good, and encapsulate at least some of what an editor does. But not the entirety of it.

Certainly, we are proofreading manuscripts, looking for basic grammar errors, fixing spelling mistakes, improving sentence structure (getting rid of too many fragments, avoiding too much language repetition, etc). However, PROOFREADER is actually another job entirely, so it is NOT the primary function of an editor. During the production process, a manuscript will be reviewed by a proofreader (one or more) with an eye toward these specific issues. Being a proofreader is cool, but to say that is all an editor does is reductive.

Editors are often more focused on the larger development issues that come with telling a story. Tracking the character arcs, the overall pace, the logic of the book's narrative or developments. The clarity and consistency of the author's voice, their themes. Yes, book editors do help manage the continuity of a book as well.

Editors are the conduits for a book within a publishing house. Every other aspect of publishing - from marketing/publicity to production. to the business/financial concerns, flow through and around the editor. The editor knows the book best and is the biggest champion for the title - for obvious reasons. So, editors are involved with every decision from COVER DESIGN, BOOK COPY (what you see both online and on the back/flap of the book) BOOK FORMAT (hardcover, paperback, what size should the book be, etc.), RELEASE DATE TIMING, HOW MUCH SHOULD WE BUY THE BOOK FOR/PAY THE AUTHOR, CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, MARKETING AND PROMOTIONAL PLANS, etc. They aren't the only person making these decisions, but they are a key part of all these conversations. It is a fair bit of project management in addition to the writing and creativity required.

And of course, editors help to manage author needs. If an author is at an event or con, editors are there to support them, help arrange and manage their schedule and events, etc. Editors also sometimes serve as sounding boards (or venting outlets) for authors during the writing process. This is why you'll often hear editors/authors referring to each other in ways that sound more like describing a close friendship rather than a business relationship.

Many authors have an actual agent. So, any comparisons to sports agents, or Ari Gold, etc. isn't quite correct. The literary agents are responsible for being the conduit between the author and the "business" of publishing. Editors are part of the "business" of publishing.There are some authors who do not have agents, and in those cases, yes, the editor does at times fulfill some of the duties of that role. But this is rare.

That doesn't quite cover everything, but, it's most of it.

 

Thanks for that insight. When you say involved with things like negotiations and contracts, do you mean editors serve in more of a mediating role? Working with both the authors and the publishers to try and smooth the process? Or do you sometimes end up on the other side of the table from the authors?

If you don’t want to get into details then no worries. I just know that executives negotiation styles vary widely. Your comment about being conduits for the book within the publishing company made me curious as to how that works.


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Well, editors are part of the publisher. They are not separate from it. Editors are - generally speaking - the ones who make offers directly to the agent/author (or just author if there is no agent) and conduct any and all negotiations to finalize a contract. Editors will figure out what a book is worth, the types of offer to make, and what elements of a contract are or are not negotiable. This varies by imprint and publisher.

The editor may consult with other members of the publishing team during the course of the negotiations. For example, the finance dept if they need to discuss changing the monetary offer substantially, or the publicity team if they want to try and develop a preliminary publicity plan to present as part of the offer etc. Again, the idea of the editor as a conduit is very real.

 

Hi, a question following TLJ novel (which I loved!)

How has the strategy gone down at Del Rey (and with Lucasfilm for that matter) in releasing the novelisation 3 months later than the film?

I'm not talking about sales figures per say, but the general process in preparing manuscript etc in time with the movie/ pressures etc. Did the apparent extra time help the publisher and / or author?

@jasonfry has spoken glowingly about the time Rian gave to him for the script and help with particular themes and arcs, and produced a great novel. I wondered if , compared to the movie release day books of R1 and TFA, this method worked better behind the scenes?

Thanks!

 

Wasn't sure the best place to put this, so here seemed as good as anywhere else:

In a few weeks at Phoenix Comic Fest (formerly Phoenix Comic Con) I'm moderating a panel with several Star Wars authors: Jason Fry, Delilah Dawson, Chuck Wendig, Alan Dean Foster, Rae Carson, and Daniel Jose Older. Phew, that's a lot of people. No pressure, right?

Well, as I'm putting together the panel, I wanted to appeal to the good readers here and ask if anyone had a question - either for a specific panelist, or the group at large. If I like the question enough, maybe I'll ask it on the panel (and then do my best to relay the answer back here).

A few ground rules:
- No guarantee that I will ask a question you post.
- Would prefer questions that appeal to multiple responders. With six authors on the panel balancing the conversation so everyone feels included and can contribute is paramount. Otherwise everyone just gets 2 quick questions asked to them and says nothing for the remaining hour.
- No questions about speculative stuff such as rumors, what they think might happen, "leaks", etc.

The panel is over Memorial Day weekend (opening weekend of Solo!). No idea if it will be streamed or recorded in any form. I'm sure someone in the audience will be recording it via the Twitters.

 

Not really sure how to word this...

Which is more of a focal point when starting their writing process: the story/plot, or character development/insight? Seeing as some books are more character oriented (i.e. Dawson’s Phasma), while others are highlighted by their stories events (Wendigs Aftermath series), I’d be interested in the different authors approaches. I ask because Phasma - although focused on a specific characters history - had a great story. Similarly, Aftermath had some really good characters even though the primary takeaway centered around the story and events.






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I guess my question for ADF is " what is it like to see Mimban, a planet you created decades ago show up on screen in Solo?" Follow up for the rest: "is there anything you've contributed to the mythos that you'd like to see show up on the screen? Either the big screen like Mimban or small screen like Thrawn and Rukh."

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@UnshavenWookie14 - I didn't get to ask your question specifically, but in general most of the authors would probably say the characters. Star Wars is, after all, a story about characters. As fun and interesting as the worldbuilding and ancillary elements are - if the characters aren't in place none of that matters.

@Darth_Duck - ADF hadn't seen the movie yet, so we didn't get to discuss that. As for the follow-up, generally, all the authors have mentioned wanting to see their original characters show up somewhere. Little bits of tech or locations are cool, but ultimately if you can have characters show up, that's the biggest win.