Jan is Jan Fields, moderator of this interview with Laurie Calknoven, and Web Editor of the ICL Web Site. Green shows names or usernames of people and the questions they asked Laurie.

Jan: Welcome to SPECIAL GUEST CHAT: "Where Do Media Tie-In Novels Come From?" with Laurie Calkhoven! I'm so glad Laurie could join us tonight -- I have to admit, I'm looking forward to learning more about tie-in novels. Welcome, Laurie -- I'm so glad you're here.

Laurie: I'm delighted to be here! Thanks for having me.

Jan: Now, I just know some of our audience doesn't know what a media tie in novel is so can you define that?

Laurie: Sure, Jan. A media tie-in or a TV tie-in is a book, usually a novel, based on a TV show or a movie. There are lots of variations on that, especially with kids movies -- like activity books, junior novels, etc. Usually, tv tie-ins are based directly on the show. They're not extra episodes. But if a show or movie is really successful like High School Musical. Publishers will find a way to do more books than the straight novelization. Media tie-in is a pretty loose term. The novels I've done for both Drake & Josh and Hannah Montana were based on scripts. But the two nonfiction books I did based on History Channel shows were based on scripts with LOTS (and lots) of additional research.

Jan: So...what's the difference between a media-tie in novel and a novelization...or is there not one?

Laurie: There isn't one that I know of, people use the terms interchangeably.

Jan: But some shows have novels that aren't based on scripts...like some of the Buffy YA novels aren't from actual episodes of the series...so they tie-in but aren't exactly novelizations of existing scripts. But a tie-in novel can be either one -- right?

Laurie: I'm not familiar with the Buffy novels. But yes, a tie-in novel can be based on a script, or simply be based on the show. So far, I've only written novels, or non-fiction books, based directly on scripts.

Laurie: Usually what I do when I get the scripts and a tape or DVD is watch the show through once with the script in front of me. Then I watch the scenes again as I write. And when I finish a draft, I watch the show again and re-read the novel to make sure I haven't gone off script AND I've caught all the nuances. I also add in backstory and take some creative license in writing about what the characters are thinking and feeling. I probably end up watching each show three or four times in all.

Jan: Wow, that sounds like a lot of work.

Laurie: If you like kids' TV, it can be a lot of fun. But deadlines tend to be pretty short. As you get to know a show, it gets easier because you know the characters so well. My shortest deadline was two weeks. But I usually get around a month to write a novel. Six weeks is a luxury. A novel is based on two episodes -- so one hour of television (minus commercials)

Laurie: Good question. I don't collaborate with the script writers at all. By the time I get hired, the script is finished and the show is "in the can." What I get is the script "as broadcast," along with a copy of the final show. The TV show comes first. The books are almost an afterthought.

Laurie: Well, that's something I'm not supposed to do -- so I try not to. But, I will add in backstory. For instance, I tell the story of how Drake and Josh came to be brothers in every book. But I don't add in scenes that didn't happen, and I stick to the dialogue exactly. I might add in descriptions of the characters emotions -- things that can be conveyed in a facial expression on TV, might need more explanation in a novel.

Jan: Does script dialogue always exactly match the dialogue on the DVD...and if it doesn't, what do you go with?

Laurie: The scripts I get are usually scripts "as broadcast," meaning that someone at the studio sat down with the script and the final show and made sure they matched. Once I got a "shooting script" in error and had to make sure the dialogue matched what actually aired and not what was on the page in front of me. Actors make little changes to the dialogue as the show is being shot.

Laurie: Of course. I'm doing the interpreting if the script and the show aren't making it clear. But kids TV tends to be pretty straightforward.

Laurie: 15,000 to 20000 words -- about 120 pages

Laurie: I started with contacts I had made at Scholastic, and contacted other publishing house that handled licensed properties. Once I wrote once TV tie-in, I had a calling card of sorts, and contact other houses. I read Publishers Weekly, Children's Writer, SCBWI bulletins, etc. and sent resumes and writing samples. It wasn't until after I wrote a couple of Drake & Josh books for Scholastic, that other publishers started to respond. One job led to another.

Jan: So do you find you become sort of a fan of the shows you're writing for?

Laurie: I think you have to be a fan to be good at this kind of writing. If you think the shows are boring, or silly, or whatever, you're not going to be good at writing books based on them. I think readers can sense it if you're not engaged in your own material -- editors too.

Laurie: The answer to that is USUALLY yes. Although I've decided to use a pen name for the TV tie-in novels. Not because I'm not proud of them, but because I'd like to keep them separate from "my own" fiction and nonfiction. My pen name appears on the title page, not the cover.

Laurie: These are straight "work-for-hire" contracts, meaning I get a flat fee and no royalty.

Laurie: I can't answer that for all the kids buying these books, but I think it's similar to the kids who buy other series books. For beginning and reluctant readers, the familiarity gives them a sense of mastery and for kids who are simply huge fans of the shows, it's another way to experience it. And anything that gets kids reading is a good thing.

Laurie: I auditioned with writing samples for other projects. I was never asked to do a writing sample for a specific series.

Jan: So the history channel stuff sounds like it was a lot of work -- can you tell us some about those books?

Laurie: I wrote two books for the Scholastic Book Clubs based on History Channel series. One was called EXTREME HISTORY and was about how man survived through the ages on things like cattle drives, or buffalo hunts, or on an 1812 battleship. The other was based on a show called TACTICAL to PRACTICAL and was about military technology and how it comes to be used in everyday life. The series were both for adult viewers, so I had to do a lot of research to make them more kid-friendly and bring in some basic information. I learned a lot writing both books, but I had to do a lot of research.

Jan: So after doing very different kinds of hard work for each type of book -- which did you LIKE better, the show novels or the history nonfiction tie-ins?

Laurie: Hmmm. Hard choice. I love doing research, but wasn't able to dig as deep as I would have liked. The novels are light and fun. What I really like is having two projects going at once so I can switch off. I often work on nonfiction in the morning and fiction in the afternoon, or vice versa.

Laurie: Thanks for asking! I can't take credit for the layout and illustration in GEORGE WASHINGTON. I think Sterling did a fabulous job and I'm very excited -- the book just hit the shelves. I love digging deep into an interesting person's life, and I think I fell a little in love with Geroge while working on tht book. I've since written a biography of Harriet Tubman for Sterling that will be published next February. When I learned that Sterling was doing a new biography series, I contacted an editor I knew there and sent copies of the History Channel books. She connected me to the right editor and that led to GEORGE WASHINGTON.r Every book I've written has led to other books with new editors and publishers. Like anything else, it demands constant networking.

Laurie: I think I stretch the most creatively when I'm working on "my own" fiction. I have two unpublished novels, both calling out for revision. But the biographies have been creatively satisfying too. I'm not sure I could choose a favorite. As I said earlier, I like to have two projects going at once. But I've learned that three is too many.

Jan: What genre are your novels?

Laurie: One is a wacky middle grade mystery. The other is a YA romantic comedy.

Jan: Oh...they sound like fun.

Laurie: Thanks. The freelance/TV writing has taught me to write REALLY fast, and the biographies force me to slow down. So they're a good mix.

Jan: Do you get much time to work on them? Are they among your two projects at once system?

Laurie: Unfortunately, my own fiction usually comes in last -- if I have deadlines they come first. And, of course, I'm being PAID to write the TV tie-ins and the nonfiction and my novels aren't under contract. The projects that pay the bills have to come first.

Laurie: I don't want to get us too far off the media tie-in topic, but I think YA novels should deal with YA themes. A romantic comedy wouldn't deal with topics like sex in the same way a more serious novel might, but sex is a factor in teen lives. I think you have to be true to your story.

Laurie: I haven't written for magazines. All my contacts were in the book world when I started freelancing, so that's where I've concentrated my efforts. The magazine world is one I don't know very well.

Laurie: I went to all the usual sources -- encyclopedias for a broad picture, books and magazine articles to dig a little deeper. The New York Public library's databases have been a great resource for all of my nonfiction. And I turn the tables a little bit with GEORGE WASHINGTON and HARRIET TUBMAN -- I watched documentaries to give me a background in the American Revolution or slavery or the Underground Railraod. Basically, I used every resource I could find. I was careful about material I found on the Internet though.

Laurie: I didn't pick up any "facts" from documentaries I watched while writing those books. And, of course, both books have full bibliographies. But if I watched a show simply for color, I would probably not include it in the bibliography.

Laurie: TV tie-in novels tend to be young middle grade (tweens, in the case of Hannah Montana). I have one middle grade novel in the works, and one YA that needs a revision.

Laurie: I do -- good question. And if it's a show I like, I'll mention it to the editor. But not all shows have novelizations published.

Laurie: It completely depends on deadlines. I SHOULD make time for my own stories every day, but I often don't. And sometimes, when my own writing feels like a struggle, I'm relieved when a paying job comes in and I can put it aside for a bit...;o).

Laurie: Samples that are similar to the age range/tone for the series. If you wanted to write for a series like BUFFY, to use an earlier example, you wouldn't send a chapter book. You'd send something edgy, gothic, supernatural, YA. The same goes for a tween series ,or a much younger show liek Blue's Clues or Dora.

Laurie: Disney does a lot of meida tie-ins. Nickelodeon has a number of publishing partners -- Simon & Schuster, Chroncle, and Scholastic for the Teen Nick shows. Grosset & Dunlap publishes the Discovery Kids tie-ins, and Harper Entertainment does a lot of Dreamworks tie-ins. When a big movie is coming out (like Star Wars) sometimes two or three publishers get in on the act, publishing in different formats.

Laurie: I don't think I'd do a good job if I hated the series. I think that would show up in my writing. Plus, I'd hate to have to spend all that time with a show and a script that I hated. It would be like being trapped in an elevator for 40 hours with a bore. So no, I wouldn't.

Laurie: That was just an example -- I don't think Buffy books are still being published. But you would have to use your own judgment for that, based on the publisher you're pitching.

Laurie: If a TV show or a movie is BASED ON a book, the book isn't usually referred to as a media tie-in novel.But it often gets a movie cover.

Laurie: Primary sources for my biographies? Yes -- those are traditional biographies with no media tie-in. My primary source for the History channel books was the History Channel itself and then I took it from there.

Laurie: No, I don't think ecyclopedias are the best source for information. They are a good place to start for a broadr overview if you are new to a topic. Anyone can post anything on the Internet -- so it's important when you're using the web to make sure you're using sources you can trust. Not something like wikipedia that anyone can contribute to.

Laurie: I don't know anything about the screenwriter's compensation, and I imagine that varies from contract to contract. And who owns the rights -- the producers, the studio, etc.

Laurie: I still think books are the best place to go for information, but the internet can be useful. For instance, Washington's papers are available online via the University of Virigina. I was able to "see" Mount Vernon and Ferry Farm online. The library of Congress has a lot of great info available online, etc. But with online research you need to be careful about your sources. Know they're trustworthy. Have two or more sources for the same fact, etc.

Laurie: I had only published one book when I got my first tie-in assigment. I think they're a great way for writers to get started - to learn pacing, plot structure, etc. They also taught me to write fast. I think publishers are willing to take a chance on new writers with things like media tie-ins and other series books.

Laurie: I had left my job to write a new series for a publisher who shall be unnamed. And they dropped the whole thing before the first book was even finished. I stumbled across media tie-ins in my scramble to figure out what to do when that happened. So, I did change gears, but I expected to be freelance writing -- just other things.

Jan: boo, hiss on unnamed publisher!

Laurie: Well, I'm still working on getting my own fiction published, so I've been rejected LOTS. But it was that fiction that led to that first exploding freelance gig, and that led to all the other work.

Jan: So what was your very first ever book?

Laurie: My first published book was a friendship book for the Scholastic Book Clubs called GET AN A+ IN FRIENDSHIP. It was a collection of friendship quizzes, and after it was published, I sent it to American Girl with a resume and now I've written two quiz/activity books for them -- THE FAMILY QUIZ BOOK and MILES OF SMILES (May 2007) Every success I've had, I've tried to use to get more assignments/contacts/book contracts. It's a constant networking game.

Jan: Very nifty...sounds like you're very good with using your work to draw more work. So, just out of curiosity...does a lot of the Scholastic Book Club books come out from folks "in house" -- they sure have a lot of little books.

Laurie: The book clubs do come up with a lot of ideas -- often because they see "holes" when they're putting together a catalog. I think a lot of those books are written by Scholastic employees and also by freelancers like me. If a book does well in the clubs, then the book fairs division and sometimes even the trade division will pick it up too

Jan: marys (and zebrakitchen) and craftymama ask that you give more tips on the networking game -- how do we make more contacts?

Laurie: I hate networking, but I've learned that I have to do it in order to keep a roof over my head. I read Children's Writer, PW Children's Bookshelf, the SCBWI Bulletin, the professional markets board on SCBWI, etc. And contact people who I think might use freelance writers. I also got to conferences, etc. and try to make contacts there. It's simply a matter of plugging away at it. I also set aside time every Monday as "follow up" days to e-mail people I've send resumes and writing samples to, or to write letters, update editors I've had contact with as to what I've been working on, etc. I try hard not to be a pest, but if an editor seems at all interested, I contact them 2-3 times year. I contacted American Girl probably 3 or 4 times before I even got a response, but that response was a an assignment.

Jan: So how does a show like Drake & Josh decide on which episodes to make into books -- do they just do all of them?

Laurie: If a show is really HOT, like Hannah Montana right now, the publisher will probably include every episode in a novel. A show like Drake & Josh, which has pretty steady ratings but isn't huge, will pick and choose episodes. I watch the show, and will often contact the editor and suggest episode that will work well together.r I don't think I could do that with Disney. They're more hands on.

Laurie: Disney seems to have a stable of writers -- I've written three of the ten Hannah Montanas that have been written so far. But I think I've done every Drake & Josh book for Scholastic. Partly because they haven't done as many. I don't think one writer could keep up with Hannah right now. The books are doing really well.

Jan: So which series has the shortest deadlines? Or do they very even within the series?

Laurie: They vary. The last Hannah book I did, I just had two weeks. It depends on how quickly the studio can get materials to the pubsisher, etc.

Jan: Do you ever get fan mail for your MTI books?

Laurie: I have gotten a number of fan lettes, including one from a boy reader of JUST MY LUCK who said it was cheesey but he liked it anyway...;o).

Laurie: Thanks. It's called having a mortgage to pay, but e-mail makes networking very easy for an introvert like me. I don't have to talk to anyone.

Laurie: Yes -- those are the catalogs kids get at school. The clubs manage to get hundreds of thousands of books into kids hands every year at really affordable prices. I applaud them for that.

Laurie: Well, my communcation with editors is almost exclusively via e-mail, so geography wouldnt' really come into play if you have American TV and want to write for an American publisher. I don't know anything about Jamaican TV. But if you have original shows there that you like, you could certainly pitch the idea of doing TV tie-ins novel for the Jamaican market.

Jan: Since you have to watch shows really really closely to write the books, have you ever spotted inconsistencies like the kind of bloopery things you see on "spot the editing error" websites?

Laurie: Sometimes -- little things like a sandwich that's half-eaten in the first shot, is untouched in the second. Or, especially with Drake & Josh, if I'm pausing in the middle of a scene, I can tell the actors are really struggling not to crack up. I can tell those guys have a lot of fun on the set.

Laurie: Well, I think it's more and more expected for a big movie (like Chronicles of Narnia, for example) to have a lot of books published in lots of different formats. But all it takes is one big dud to turn things around. Publishers were a little leery after the first of the recent Star War movies. A lot of books were remaindered.

Laurie: The best place to begin, probably, is the Producer.

Jan: Is it as gorgeous as the George book?

Laurie: I haven't seen anything yet, but the same team is working on it. So I'm hopeful and excited. She was a fascinating woman to write about. A real inspiration.

Laurie: That's really not a question I can answer. Often the people writing and filming the movie have no connection with the book. I think John Updike said that the best thing that could happen to a writer is that their book gets OPTIONED for a movie (so they get some money), but the movie never gets made and the book isn't ruined. I was at the SCBWI conference last weekend and Katherine Paterson said she highly recommend the movie of BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA.

Laurie: The tv tie-ins always take their cover art from the show. Not strange at all. And Harriet won't be published for a full year. I will get to see the cover before it's finalized. But authors often don't get any say in their covers. It's not unusual. We can always hope for better.

Jan: Well...I want to thank you a bizillion times for joining us. You have been so terrific and so patient as be buried you in questions.

Laurie: It was a lot of fun for me. I hope I was at least a little bit helpful. Great questions too!

Jan: I thought you were fantastic...oh, and the audience says you were tons of help and are sending their thanks.

Laurie: You're welcome!