--- In Jade_Pagoda@yahoogroups.com, "David A McIntee"
<david.mcintee@...> wrote:
>
> --- In Jade_Pagoda@yahoogroups.com, Simon Bucher-Jones
> <sfwriterbj@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > I'll save everyone's time by providing the crucial
quotes now:

<snip>

Actually, it was a very open and candid session (of the 20-odd
attendees, only two of us were "Who fans").

Feedback of note is as follows (apologies if you've heard some of it
before):

NDA/TDA authors have to be people the production team is comfortable
with, and reasons given for "not opening up to other authors" were:
S1 = protection of new series spoilers, S2 = protection of new Doctor
spoilers, S3 = protection of new companion spoilers. These decisions
are made on a season-by-season basis, and Justin hopes the process
will be able to change under Random House.

Random House do seem intent on continuing to publish TDAs, and JR is
attempting to push through another 3 commissions prior to handing
over to Random House just in case there's a delay in them setting up
their own commissioning. JR is awaiting news of whether he will be
kept or replaced as editor by Random House.

Part of the problem is that the BBC Books imprint will be managed by
The Ebury Press, who specialise in factual books rather than fiction.
The Doctor Who books will therefore be a unique element of the BBC
Books imprint moving forwards, and therefore requires some internal
managerial decisions.

According to Justin, BBC Books know what they want to do with the
PDAs, but the problem right now if finding someone able to take a
decision (I took this to mean that until Random House take the reins,
the position will be unchanged). There will "almost certainly" be
adult-focused Torchwood books, not edited by Justin.

Book stats. BBC Books averaged 4000 units per book, and the reason
for rescheduling was that warehouses got too full to store new
publications. Surplus stocks of books were sent to orphanages Eastern
Europe, where they improved the efficiency of heating systems.

The new books sell 10 times the amount the new books sold, and The
Stone Rose is proving to be the most popular title since the series
finale (it sells 1000 copies-per-week more than Resurrection Casket
or Feast of the Drowned). This is believed to be because it has the
word "Rose" in the title.

Justin also outlined his current projects, which include a teen novel
co-written with Jack Higgins, a S3 version of Monsters and
Allies/Aliens and Enemies, a new children's book series similar to
The Invisible Detective, and a possible sequel to his just-published
novel The Death Collector.

He also talked about the impact kids books have had on "de-genre-
izing" fantasy-action-adventures. Post-Harry Potter, kids books
written by adults are called "crossover fiction", allowing SF and
fantsy stories to break out of shelf-stereotyping. Interestingly,
Doctor Who books are considered to be "reverse crossover" books -
meaning adult books read by children, which surprised me.