Authorial Justice
Hello, World.
Yep, I'm here. Real life is kinda kicking butt right now, but that's not why I'm here.
So, I've been a Star Trek fan for much of my life, and yes, I occasionally pick up a Star Trek novelization, especially when some indicator of quality is there - say, a novelization or adaptation undertaken by an established author (the Star Trek novel How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford comes to mind.)
One of my absolute favorites, one I re-read occasionally, is Steven Barnes' novelization of Far Beyond the Stars, the fifth season Deep Space Nine episode that depicted one of Captain Sisko's visions from the Prophets, wherein Sisko experiences the life of Benny Russell, a science-fiction writer in the 1950s, who works for a pulp SF mag. As Russell writes the story of Captain Benjamin Sisko, a black commander of a futuristic space station, we see Russell struggle with the institutionalized racism of that era. I consider it one of the best episodes of Trek ever done.
Barnes' adaptation of the screenplay for that episode is that rarity that matches or improves upon the quality of the source material. My spouse, a literary SF fan from childhood, says he got far more from Barnes' novelization than from the actual episode. He teaches English and special ed in a majority African-American high school, and he still uses Barnes' novelization to introduce his students (many of them reluctant or unskilled readers) to the genre of science fiction and to pop culture history.
In any case, the point I'm making is that Barnes, who has written several original genre novels, added to,and made something new out of the screenplay written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, drawing upon his own experiences as a POC writing genre fiction. He is the author of the work for all intents and purposes - and besides that, Simon and Schuster says he is the author in their online catalog: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Far-Beyond-the-Stars/Steven-Barnes/Star-Trek-Deep-Space-Nine/9780743420846
But Amazon.com doesn't think so. They've listed Behr and Beimler as the authors of the novel: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Stars-Star-Trek-Space/dp/0671024302
Now, I know that mass media novelizations are supposed to be the lowest literary lifeform on the planet, and their authors aren't supposed to get any respect, but still, they should be getting credit for their work, especially if they've actually crafted a good novel from the source screenplay. So a couple weeks ago I used the "update product info" to ask that Amazon at least add Barnes' name to the list of authors.
So far, no dice, and no update. Barnes is still invisible on Amazon. And it's rather ironic, given that the book's story centers on Benny Russell's struggle to win recognition as an African American SF author who writes about POCs living and working in a future without racism (Russell's editor won't run his photo in the pulp SF mag Russell works for, because he fears readers will reject the magazine.)
Thus, I'm asking my flist and anyone they want to share this post with to do a "update product info" bombing - go to Amazon's listing for the "Far Beyond the Stars" novelization and use the link in the Feedback box to ask that Amazon update the author info to give Steven Barnes his due. (You can use the Simon and Schuster catalog link as your reference material for the update request.) (ETA: the Feedback box is at the bottom of the page.) It will only take a few minutes, and I figure if Amazon gets a couple dozen requests, its editors might actually take a look at what they're doing. (And if someone can suggest a more effective way of reaching the powers-that-be at Amazon, I'd appreciate hearing about it.)
Feel free to share this.
ETA: Well, that was easy. Thanks, everyone! The Amazon page is now corrected. For those who want to see it in its original state, showing Behr and Beimler as the authors, here is the screen shot I made this morning:
http://pics.livejournal.com/sistermarysith/pic/0002d22t
Yep, I'm here. Real life is kinda kicking butt right now, but that's not why I'm here.
So, I've been a Star Trek fan for much of my life, and yes, I occasionally pick up a Star Trek novelization, especially when some indicator of quality is there - say, a novelization or adaptation undertaken by an established author (the Star Trek novel How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford comes to mind.)
One of my absolute favorites, one I re-read occasionally, is Steven Barnes' novelization of Far Beyond the Stars, the fifth season Deep Space Nine episode that depicted one of Captain Sisko's visions from the Prophets, wherein Sisko experiences the life of Benny Russell, a science-fiction writer in the 1950s, who works for a pulp SF mag. As Russell writes the story of Captain Benjamin Sisko, a black commander of a futuristic space station, we see Russell struggle with the institutionalized racism of that era. I consider it one of the best episodes of Trek ever done.
Barnes' adaptation of the screenplay for that episode is that rarity that matches or improves upon the quality of the source material. My spouse, a literary SF fan from childhood, says he got far more from Barnes' novelization than from the actual episode. He teaches English and special ed in a majority African-American high school, and he still uses Barnes' novelization to introduce his students (many of them reluctant or unskilled readers) to the genre of science fiction and to pop culture history.
In any case, the point I'm making is that Barnes, who has written several original genre novels, added to,and made something new out of the screenplay written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, drawing upon his own experiences as a POC writing genre fiction. He is the author of the work for all intents and purposes - and besides that, Simon and Schuster says he is the author in their online catalog: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Far-Beyond-the-Stars/Steven-Barnes/Star-Trek-Deep-Space-Nine/9780743420846
But Amazon.com doesn't think so. They've listed Behr and Beimler as the authors of the novel: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Stars-Star-Trek-Space/dp/0671024302
Now, I know that mass media novelizations are supposed to be the lowest literary lifeform on the planet, and their authors aren't supposed to get any respect, but still, they should be getting credit for their work, especially if they've actually crafted a good novel from the source screenplay. So a couple weeks ago I used the "update product info" to ask that Amazon at least add Barnes' name to the list of authors.
So far, no dice, and no update. Barnes is still invisible on Amazon. And it's rather ironic, given that the book's story centers on Benny Russell's struggle to win recognition as an African American SF author who writes about POCs living and working in a future without racism (Russell's editor won't run his photo in the pulp SF mag Russell works for, because he fears readers will reject the magazine.)
Thus, I'm asking my flist and anyone they want to share this post with to do a "update product info" bombing - go to Amazon's listing for the "Far Beyond the Stars" novelization and use the link in the Feedback box to ask that Amazon update the author info to give Steven Barnes his due. (You can use the Simon and Schuster catalog link as your reference material for the update request.) (ETA: the Feedback box is at the bottom of the page.) It will only take a few minutes, and I figure if Amazon gets a couple dozen requests, its editors might actually take a look at what they're doing. (And if someone can suggest a more effective way of reaching the powers-that-be at Amazon, I'd appreciate hearing about it.)
Feel free to share this.
ETA: Well, that was easy. Thanks, everyone! The Amazon page is now corrected. For those who want to see it in its original state, showing Behr and Beimler as the authors, here is the screen shot I made this morning:
http://pics.livejournal.com/sistermarysith/pic/0002d22t