Oh, I hadn't heard about that! Makes the timing even more suspicious. It also makes me wonder what sort of contest they're going to pitch. There isn't a new series on the horizon yet so no spec scripts for that. I can't really see TPTB letting fans write large chunks of the movie, though I could see a contest for writing a a single scene. Fanfic, certainly, is most likely, but I can't see a "win a t-shirt!" or even a "you'll get your work published" contest going down too well after what SNW has done to legitimise TrekFic and TPTB's history of buying unsolicited scripts.
It also must be said that former Pocket Books editor John Ordover understood fandom and fic writers. He participated in fandom as much as his position would allow, visiting message boards and answering questions and made no bones about it when his staff writers did the same. If they don't have someone like him at the helm of this one, it might also fall through.
Finally, Trek fen, on average, tend to be older fen. Even someone like me, who came in with DS9 and Voyager, can have been active in fandom for a decade or more. Certainly, the ones who're still active in fandom are, at a cautious estimate, at least in their mid 20's to early 30's. And yet, FanLib strikes me as something aimed at the younger set and the newer fandoms whose participants don't have the sense of history Trek fans do, nor the sense of caution from years of watching people being C&D'd or being dicked around with by various sets of TPTB.
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It also must be said that former Pocket Books editor John Ordover understood fandom and fic writers. He participated in fandom as much as his position would allow, visiting message boards and answering questions and made no bones about it when his staff writers did the same. If they don't have someone like him at the helm of this one, it might also fall through.
Finally, Trek fen, on average, tend to be older fen. Even someone like me, who came in with DS9 and Voyager, can have been active in fandom for a decade or more. Certainly, the ones who're still active in fandom are, at a cautious estimate, at least in their mid 20's to early 30's. And yet, FanLib strikes me as something aimed at the younger set and the newer fandoms whose participants don't have the sense of history Trek fans do, nor the sense of caution from years of watching people being C&D'd or being dicked around with by various sets of TPTB.