In Development: The Star Trek Book Club

LynxMukka · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 1:05 PM

As many have been following over the past couple of years, we’ve been going through a progression to align ourselves with being a community for all Star Trek fans on the internet and not just having a sole focus on gaming. The decision to do this was made back in 2011, and since then, we’ve come quite some way. I won’t talk too much about this though at the moment, since in a few weeks we’ll be talking more about that.

But my key point is that through this attitude change that’s happening at all levels of the UFP, we’re starting to think about things differently and come up with ideas that have never before been ventured or at least done properly that we think could benefit fans worldwide. That’s why today I’m pleased to reveal that I and several others are currently leading up a project titled “Star Trek Book Club”, with its mission to give fans an easy introduction into the world of Star Trek fiction.

Where It’s Going
Over the coming months, it will still very much be in the planning and development phases, but I wanted to unveil the project, as an example of the sort of things we’re working on in the background that you may not necessarily be aware of. Let me briefly go over what we want to achieve with the project*:

*disclaimer, the final product which we aim to launch by the end of this year, if not next year, is subject to change. We have made this announcement in order to be more transparent as to what plans we have in mind. We cannot give accurate timeframes or details at this time though.

A dedicated area on our site which will eventually list all known Star Trek fictional books, with details, images and reviews for most or all and the ability for any member to submit their own review of the book and debate their favourite parts.

We’ll be linking through to Memory Alpha and Memory Beta sites, as well as links to where you can purchase physical and digital copies (Amazon Kindle).

A timeline, possibly interactive, which will easily show to members ‘where to start’ when it comes to reading the abundant and enlarged Star Trek fictional universe.

A place for editor’s picks each month, members’ favourites, the latest Star Trek Book News (coming under FNS) such as upcoming releases and more.

I ran a poll back in April, with the intention to test the waters to see how much interest there was in an endeavour like this and the results were quite positive. Ultimately, out of our current membership participation, 72% of you would potentially visit and use the Star Trek Book Club that we’re setting up. This is a clear indicator that this is something you ultimately might find useful as an easy to use, exciting tool in order to plan your next bookworm session.

Moving Forward
The Federation Executive Office are very much driving this project forward, but in and amongst the other work we have going on at the moment, we wanted to bring someone on board to this project who we know also has equal enthusiasm for this endeavour. I’m pleased to announce therefore, that NeoTrident is being brought on to act as a sort of “Project Manager” to the Star Trek Book Club, and it will be his responsibility to move things forward and co-ordinate efforts to ensure we succeed in this.

Neo will continue his duties as Starfleet Operations Executive Officer, and will simply be taking this on as an additional responsibility with the authorisation to co-ordinate efforts regarding the Star Trek Book Club initiative.

Thank you for your time in reading this, I wish Neo every success in his additional role and please use this thread to let us know your thoughts on the project and any potential ideas you may have!

NeoTrident · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 1:27 PM

This is a project I am really excited to participate in, I have been reading Star Trek books since I was 11 or 12 and have barely put them down since! I hope that by creating this resource and additional dimension to our community we can bring in more people to the fantastic stories that are out there.

By all means if you have ideas please let us know, we are in the white board stages so now would be the time

Flicky · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 1:54 PM

I've only read two Star Trek books, and both of them were from dead in the middle of the series they were from (on top of the fact that I was only about 10). I've always wanted to actually get into Star Trek books properly, and this would be the perfect opportunity for me to do it. I'm really excited about the possibilities from this.

Mazoue · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 2:00 PM

I love this idea! And I would also love to see us pick a book to read and discuss every month or so on top of what's been mentioned. Neo, you strike me as the best man to head this project from what I've read, so congratulations and I cannot wait to see this project come to life.

Also, love the idea of Project Manager for this sort of stuff, this could definitely lighten the load on FEO, I hope that these kind of positions would be considered for future development projects.

Silynn · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 2:11 PM

Definitely looking forward to this.

Dentari · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 2:17 PM

I definitely like the idea of offering links to information and copies of each book. Makes a relatively confusing process slightly less so. This whole Book Club idea could make starting on the Star Trek books that much easier.

TeresaJo · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 2:37 PM

I have several lists of every book published through 2013 I believe. And I own a good majority of them. I have read about half to 2/3rd of what I own. This is a lifetime collection for me and the only thing I actually collect. So excited to see this come to fruition.

by Tapatalk

McClintock · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 4:05 PM

I too look forward to this developing. As stated above, Star Trek fiction is massive, and aside from the obvious must-reads in terms of feedback and quality, it would be great to discuss them in-depth.

Caymen Greener · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 5:32 PM

Will this include graphic novels? For us neanderthals who prefer pictures, it'd be nice to capture comics and graphic novels as well.

Originally Posted by Mazoue

Also, love the idea of Project Manager for this sort of stuff, this could definitely lighten the load on FEO, I hope that these kind of positions would be considered for future development projects.

QFL - Quoted For Love

LynxMukka · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 6:46 PM

I don't think we're aiming to cover that at launch otherwise we would have a lot lol, but I think that is a future opportunity if we also found someone who is willing to build a library like that.

Three of Seven · Posted Thu 07 Aug, 2014 6:49 PM

I am interested to see how this goes, hopefully some support for audio books too, that would give me an opportunity to get into the series of books, miss a big chunk of story!

Abbydog · Posted Sun 10 Aug, 2014 12:06 PM

I'm very excited about this as well!

NeoTrident · Posted Sun 10 Aug, 2014 1:54 PM

Now that we have had the forum updated the Book Club discussion section is now available! The forum will be the home for most of the discussions involving published works but the main project will involve the website itself. Please continue to let us know any suggestions you may have either here, the book club forum or PM myself, we do want to hear your thoughts.

Remissus · Posted Sun 10 Aug, 2014 2:41 PM

This sounds /great/! Can't wait! I loves me some good Trek reading.

Fizz · Posted Tue 12 Aug, 2014 12:15 PM

As a new member to both the fleet & the Star Trek universe I love to see things like this happen. I've played Star Trek Online for a while and have started watching the TV series as well. I am a big reader and love getting into the lore of the universe I am playing in and this would give someone like me who isn't as familiar with the universe a place to get started in terms of books.

I love this idea and as a new member to the fleet love that things like this are going on.

In Development: The Star Trek Book Club

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