Looking For a Good Book

It’s about time someone wrote this book!

I have been reading tie-in novels since the mid-1970’s. I’m not sure if the first one was a Partridge Family novel (oh, yes, they had them and I read them!) or one of the two Gerry Anderson UFO novels (why only two!?) or, quite likely, one of those James Blish Star Trek adaptations. I don’t know how far back tie-in novels go, but for me, they go back to my earliest reading days. What a lot of younger readers don’t quite grasp is that back before the internet was easily accessible (possibly in your own parents’ day), if we wanted to experience more adventures of our favorite characters, we couldn’t just stream any tv show we wanted, but we could (maybe) get a book and enjoy an entirely new adventure.

So, tie-in novels have been around for awhile, but while there is no shortage of how-to-write books and magazines I’m not aware of any other book that speaks specifically to the task and challenges of writing a tie-in novel or a novel in someone else’s universe.

Author Tim Waggoner lays it all out by the numbers – he’s written a few tie-ins and had varying experiences (including NOT getting a job he wanted) and he comes at this with some great insight. But even with this, Waggoner includes a brief Q&A with other tie-in writers. Most of these are names I recognize. In one instance, a writer whose work I really like but didn’t know they also did tie-ins, and in another instance, the author mentioned having been asked to write a short story set in another author’s universe and it just happens that I recently read and reviewed that collection, and this author’s story was one of those that I felt was outstanding.

Perhaps some of the most interesting or helpful parts of the book are Waggoner’s including outlines and treatments, and even one complete short story that he’s written in an effort to get a contract.

Not surprisingly, there are challenges to tie-in writing that we don’t usually think about. Anyone who’s current with Star Trek fandom probably knows the story of James Blish, who wrote the television adaptations for the books, hadn’t actually seen an episode of the show when he first started – he was handed copies of the scripts – often early versions – and set about to writing. According to Waggoner, this is still common practice.

If you’ve read a novelization of a movie and noticed some differences, some of this could be because of the version of the script handed the author, some of it could be because the author hadn’t seen the film or even stills from the film (very likely), and some of it could be because part of the author’s job is to expand on what is in the film. Waggoner notes:

My job is to write a book based on the script, almost as if I was directing my own version of the film. It’s not only okay if they don’t match completely, it’s a good thing.

The big take-away from the book (which should be no surprise to anyone) is that you are not going to get a job as a tie-in writer. Nope. It doesn’t matter if you’ve loved My Little Pony all your life and know more about the series than the creators themselves. If you don’t already have a decent amount of writing credits under you belt – meaning book contracts from major publishers, you aren’t going to get hired to write the next, the best, or even the first My Little Pony novel.

But take time to read through the book anyway. It’s full of fabulous resources and Tim Waggoner’s got a talent for word-smithing.

Did you know that there’s actually an association for tie-in writers? It’s the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers and you can find them at: iamtw.org …Wait a minute … i … am … TW? Just how did Tim Waggoner get this job?

Looking for a good book? Just Add Writer by Tim Waggoner explores what it takes to work as a media tie-in writer. It’s full of juicy tidbits and resources, but it will absolutely not help you get a job.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Just Add Writer

author: Tim Waggoner

publisher: Guide Dog Books

ISBN: 9781947879812

hardcover, 204 pages