Aramanthus
Mongoose
Sounds good to me!
B5 Novels & Graphic Novels by Mongoose?
- Thread starter mthomason
- Start date
Tanit Ironwolf
Mongoose
Wow that is better news then what I assumed from reading JMS's comment.
cornholio1980
Mongoose
My interest in the announced novels has suddenly declined drastically:
I for one am definitely not interested in those books if they're not approved by JMS, since I'd have to assume that they'll be as awful as the first 6 Dell novels...
Seriously guys, I think it's great that you want to give us more stories in the B5-universe, but please, if you want to do it, then DO IT RIGHT. Pay JMS what he deserves and give us stories that we are REALLY interested in.
I for one am definitely not interested in those books if they're not approved by JMS, since I'd have to assume that they'll be as awful as the first 6 Dell novels...
Tanit Ironwolf
Mongoose
Where did the above quote come from??? Other than the claim its from JMS. What news group, webpage did JMS make this comment on?? I'd like to verify the source before I jump on the band wagon.
cornholio1980
Mongoose
It's from the "Babylon 5 Universe Novels?"-Thread in the moderated newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated). It should also appear on jmsnews.com shortly...
Aramanthus
Mongoose
I'd say theu should pay JMS for him to write the books! And they should make sure they are available over here in the states too! That is if they do get him signed up to write them.
Night Marshal
Mongoose
I get the Impression that JMS doesn't really like to write novels and doesn't have time to do it anyways. But I think if you ask JMS to write outlines for like he did for the Dell novels that would work. Maybe we could finally see the end of the Crusade storyline in book form.
Satai Delenn
Mongoose
The B5 novels are only going to be available for the UK talk about insulting for those of us who don't live across the pond.As for JMS refusing the money offer he either doesn't have the time,found the price offered insulting .Typical B5 bad news .
Satai Delenn
Mongoose
Speaking of the B5 novels if they do come out alot B5 fans won't read them cause they ain't cannon which really irks me to pieces .
cornholio1980
Mongoose
Well, I guess he just meant that the new novels are/were only meant to be RELEASED in England. But nowadays, with globalisation, online shopping and so on, it shouldn't be a problem to get it from almost everywhere (including the US), f.e. via amazon.co.uk.Aramanthus said:
Anyway, I would really advise Mongoose publishing to think about the JMS issue again. There will be MANY B5 fans who won't buy a novel if it's not JMS-approved, so I think the money would really be worth spent, considering the costs for the autor, the printing etc., and comparing this with the amount of money that you will get with and without JMS being involved.
lastbesthope
Mongoose
Satai Delenn said:
They might be, they're not out yet so who knows?
LBH
lastbesthope
Mongoose
Matt said:
I think Delenn means canon, which basically means, in this context, "That which is considered official" i.e. a proper part of the B5 storyline.
As for what is canon, all 5 seasons, 6 movies, Crusade, novel #9, possibly novel #7, THe Psi Corps, Centauri and Technomage trilogies of novels.
Some of the RPGs and such like may be canon, but I can't remember off the top of my head. I know the Mongoose ones go past the eyes of JMS and/or Fiona Avery so that ranks pretty high.
LBH
Satai Delenn
Mongoose
Satai Delenn
Mongoose
lastbesthope,
My point in my post is that some fans are not going to be RPG fans and may or maynot care on what was put in the RPG books they will only be looking for what's in the novels and that;s what counts .
My point in my post is that some fans are not going to be RPG fans and may or maynot care on what was put in the RPG books they will only be looking for what's in the novels and that;s what counts .
The reply I have just posted on Usenet;
Hi guys,
Okay, I have a slightly different recollection of events. There was no silence at first - we had quite a rapid exchange of emails. I never expected anyone to work on this project for free but I believe I was very honest when I said I had no idea what your time was _worth_. No idea. None. Never worked with anyone in your position before. Furthermore, that offer was not the final one - we offered 10% of the revenue, the same portion that Warner Brothers gets for the novels.
That is when the silence kicked in - you did not get back to us, did not discuss it. We could have tried to work something out.
The important thing to remember here is that Mongoose is not Warner Brothers. We are a small company employing 20 or so people. We cannot throw money around with abandon on any project, especially as we are limited to the UK market only (I believe it is Del Ray who have the US licence). There is no guarantee that a new range of Babylon 5 novels will prove successful in the UK and, at the end of the day, we have a business to run.
To put things into perspective, if we were to print and sell an entire print run of, say, 10,000 novels, the profit is only a few thousand pounds after printing and distribution costs. That is if we sell all 10,000. Sell half that and we are at a loss. This is before Warner Brothers comes along and takes their bite, plus any percentage we offered to Mr Straczynski. I must point out, it is not the profit I have my eyes on with these figures but whether the project would end up costing more than it would bring in - which is obviously a huge problem with a business.
I can say that everyone at Mongoose is greatly dedicated to Babylon 5 and, in our own way, we have been carrying the B5 banner for the past three years with our games and a range of over 20 sourcebooks. I believe (I may be wrong) that we have printed more Babylon 5 material than any other publisher. We take this universe seriously.
I would like to extend an offer to Mr Straczynski to re-open negotiations and, if there is a way we can find to work together, we would like to move forwards. We have a lot of very exciting ideas for Babylon 5, across a variety of media, that we would like to discuss. We very much want to carry the banner further and I believe we have a lot to offer fans of the series.
You have my email. Please give me a shout.
Hi guys,
Okay, I have a slightly different recollection of events. There was no silence at first - we had quite a rapid exchange of emails. I never expected anyone to work on this project for free but I believe I was very honest when I said I had no idea what your time was _worth_. No idea. None. Never worked with anyone in your position before. Furthermore, that offer was not the final one - we offered 10% of the revenue, the same portion that Warner Brothers gets for the novels.
That is when the silence kicked in - you did not get back to us, did not discuss it. We could have tried to work something out.
The important thing to remember here is that Mongoose is not Warner Brothers. We are a small company employing 20 or so people. We cannot throw money around with abandon on any project, especially as we are limited to the UK market only (I believe it is Del Ray who have the US licence). There is no guarantee that a new range of Babylon 5 novels will prove successful in the UK and, at the end of the day, we have a business to run.
To put things into perspective, if we were to print and sell an entire print run of, say, 10,000 novels, the profit is only a few thousand pounds after printing and distribution costs. That is if we sell all 10,000. Sell half that and we are at a loss. This is before Warner Brothers comes along and takes their bite, plus any percentage we offered to Mr Straczynski. I must point out, it is not the profit I have my eyes on with these figures but whether the project would end up costing more than it would bring in - which is obviously a huge problem with a business.
I can say that everyone at Mongoose is greatly dedicated to Babylon 5 and, in our own way, we have been carrying the B5 banner for the past three years with our games and a range of over 20 sourcebooks. I believe (I may be wrong) that we have printed more Babylon 5 material than any other publisher. We take this universe seriously.
I would like to extend an offer to Mr Straczynski to re-open negotiations and, if there is a way we can find to work together, we would like to move forwards. We have a lot of very exciting ideas for Babylon 5, across a variety of media, that we would like to discuss. We very much want to carry the banner further and I believe we have a lot to offer fans of the series.
You have my email. Please give me a shout.
Matt
Mongoose
well that makes mongoose look a lot better case i can really understand that you are running a biss 
do i still think i will not buy books that are not some how fitting with the rest of the story line and i think that the dsafest way to make sure the books are inline withe the rest off the b5 stuff is talking to JMS
and so that i don`t only bitche all the time
i personally do ont play the RPG game for b5. butt i have buyed most o the books (missing 1 or 2) cae i think they really have some good info both to flesh out the series and as backround for ACTA, and i am really looking foward to the EF source book
do i still think i will not buy books that are not some how fitting with the rest of the story line and i think that the dsafest way to make sure the books are inline withe the rest off the b5 stuff is talking to JMS
and so that i don`t only bitche all the time
i personally do ont play the RPG game for b5. butt i have buyed most o the books (missing 1 or 2) cae i think they really have some good info both to flesh out the series and as backround for ACTA, and i am really looking foward to the EF source book
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