Author Topic: Ulisses Spiele questions  (Read 6510 times)

Nerroth

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Ulisses Spiele questions
« on: 10 April 2013, 18:12:37 »
I was wondering about the kind of setup which Ulisses Spiele has regarding BattleTech fiction, and how it might (or might not) relate to Catalyst's take on things.

*When it comes to fiction originally published in English, are they entitled to translate and publish any current fiction works (to include A Bonfire of Worlds, if their Dark Age coverage gets that far), or are there limits as to what they have access to?

*In the other direction, are the works which are published in German by them (such as the Andurien trilogy they are currently working on) eligible for sale on BattleCorps, even if they are currently off-limits for dead-tree publication; or are they off the table altogether for the time being?

Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #1 on: 23 April 2013, 08:28:25 »
I am Bernard Craw, I wrote 3 of the novels published in Germany in German as original language, including the 2 books published on the Andurien Wars so far. I am not an employee of the Ulisses publishing house, but a freelancer, so my insight is limited. From my perspective, this is what the picture looks like:

- I do not know about the contracts established between Catalyst, Ulisses, and maybe further parties involved in the BattleTech universe. However, I can tell what Ulisses announced here in Germany. From that and from what they did so far, they seem to have the intention to translate lots of gaming material, which they sometimes enhance with some extras, and, as far as the novels are concerned, they translate the remaining MWDA novels that are not available in German so far. MWDA was published with Heyne publishing house, but only the first 16 volumes, if I am not mistaken. Ulisses took up from there and  releases a MWDA novel every couple of months or half year. This will come to a "natural end" when there is no untranslated American printed edition available any more, but observing the current speed of publication, this is some years in the future.

- As to the novels written in German as an original language, judging by my contracts, Ulisses has full authority to sell whatever translation they want in whichever format they want. The only thing they have to do, is to pay me some per centage of the money they make through such sales, which is a clause I very much appreciate.  ;)

Nerroth

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #2 on: 24 April 2013, 13:23:02 »
Thank you for your reply, Herr Craw!

If I may, I had a few follow-up questions I wanted to ask, too:

*How is the third Andurien book coming along?

*So far as you are aware, is Ulisses in a position to translate and sell your books anywhere in the European Union, or just in Germany (and/or the other DACH states)? For example, could they publish an English translation of each book in the UK and Ireland if they so wished?

*When you are working on BT novels, do you have a contuniuity Tsar you have to work with at Ulisses, or is it on you to make sure you stay close to the material which exists in sources like Historical: Brush Wars? (And do you ever ask someone at Catalyst directly to make sure a certain data point is accurate or not?)

*On the game side of things, do you know if anyone at Ulisses is making plans to translate the upcoming Alpha Strike rulebook, or are their hands full with trying to publish pre-existing rulebooks like A Time of War or Strategic Operations?

Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #3 on: 24 April 2013, 14:57:44 »
*How is the third Andurien book coming along?
I did send a concept/ outline for that book, which is, to my knowledge, under investigation by both Ulisses and Catalyst. So, to me personally, the status is "waiting for feedback on concept/ outline". This is a pre-contract stage. Once the concept/ outline is approved (which potentially requires some adjustments on my part), negotiation about contract terms would start, including deadlines for me writing the novel itself.

*So far as you are aware, is Ulisses in a position to translate and sell your books anywhere in the European Union, or just in Germany (and/or the other DACH states)? For example, could they publish an English translation of each book in the UK and Ireland if they so wished?
I do not know.
All I can assume is based on the general customs in the book industry, where licences are given for specific markets, and usually Germany/ Austria/ Switzerland is seen to be one "slice of the cake". In other words: If Ulisses does not have an exceptional contract, their licence would be limited to these countries. But please let me emphasize again: I have never seen the contracts.

*When you are working on BT novels, do you have a contuniuity Tsar you have to work with at Ulisses, or is it on you to make sure you stay close to the material which exists in sources like Historical: Brush Wars?
In my case, I write stories for which the background is described in Historical: Brush Wars, which is a source book I use quite intensely when doing the outline as well as when doing the writing. Other source books, like the Technical Readouts, the House books, or Interstellar Players, will be consulted, as well, but the most crucial source is  Historical: Brush Wars. I make references in my outline, so the people who read the outline can check.
People at Ulisses involved in the editing process are BattleTech veterans, familiar with at least every piece of fiction published in German language, and a good portion of the non translated material, as well. This means that a certain portion of fact checking is done during the editing process, as well. By the way this procedure is different from FanPro times, when there was a full blood BattleTech maniac more or less at my disposal for questions. He was not responsible for continuity, but for fact checking. However, at FanPro times the stage where the outline was sent to the US was not in place, to my knowledge. So things are a bit different now, but both Ulisses and Fanpro take/ took measures to make sure a BattleTech novel really is a BattleTech novel.
When the text is complete, as far as I understand, the complete book in pdf format is sent to the US for approval before it actually goes into print. At that stage, I am no longer involved, however (and in the case of my books so far no wishes for alterations arose), so this is "second hand knowledge" to me. I also do not know who in the US would check these texts - obviously it has to be somebody who can read German.

(And do you ever ask someone at Catalyst directly to make sure a certain data point is accurate or not?)
No. I do not have any direct business relationship to Catalyst. My contract is with Ulisses only, and then Ulisses holds the contracts with Catalyst. So, if I would have a substantial need for such questions, I would address them to Ulisses, and they would then relay it to their peers at Catalyst, I suppose.

*On the game side of things, do you know if anyone at Ulisses is making plans to translate the upcoming Alpha Strike rulebook, or are their hands full with trying to publish pre-existing rulebooks like A Time of War or Strategic Operations?
I do not know, but you will get an answer from feedback@ulisses-spiele.de for sure. Imagine Ulisses as a very small company, with regard to staff. There is no danger that your eMail could get lost or not find one of the guys (or girls) who are familiar with the BattleTech line.

Nerroth

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #4 on: 24 April 2013, 15:45:52 »
I did send a concept/ outline for that book, which is, to my knowledge, under investigation by both Ulisses and Catalyst. So, to me personally, the status is "waiting for feedback on concept/ outline". This is a pre-contract stage. Once the concept/ outline is approved (which potentially requires some adjustments on my part), negotiation about contract terms would start, including deadlines for me writing the novel itself.

So it's still very early days on that front, I see. Good luck with the rest of the process!

(As an aside, is there any other era of Andurien history you would like to cover? I would imagine that there'd be a story or two to tell of what happened to the Duchy during the Republic Era, or in the run-up to 3145.)

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I do not know.
All I can assume is based on the general customs in the book industry, where licences are given for specific markets, and usually Germany/ Austria/ Switzerland is seen to be one "slice of the cake". In other words: If Ulisses does not have an exceptional contract, their licence would be limited to these countries. But please let me emphasize again: I have never seen the contracts.

Understood. (It would be interesting to see how certain countries' rights might be affected by the language issue. Say, in Switzerland, where there would be scope for French, Italian, and Romansh print works alongside ones in German.)

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In my case, I write stories for which the background is described in Historical: Brush Wars, which is a source book I use quite intensely when doing the outline as well as when doing the writing. Other source books, like the Technical Readouts, the House books, or Interstellar Players, will be consulted, as well, but the most crucial source is  Historical: Brush Wars. I make references in my outline, so the people who read the outline can check.
People at Ulisses involved in the editing process are BattleTech veterans, familiar with at least every piece of fiction published in German language, and a good portion of the non translated material, as well. This means that a certain portion of fact checking is done during the editing process, as well. By the way this procedure is different from FanPro times, when there was a full blood BattleTech maniac more or less at my disposal for questions. He was not responsible for continuity, but for fact checking. However, at FanPro times the stage where the outline was sent to the US was not in place, to my knowledge. So things are a bit different now, but both Ulisses and Fanpro take/ took measures to make sure a BattleTech novel really is a BattleTech novel.
When the text is complete, as far as I understand, the complete book in pdf format is sent to the US for approval before it actually goes into print. At that stage, I am no longer involved, however (and in the case of my books so far no wishes for alterations arose), so this is "second hand knowledge" to me. I also do not know who in the US would check these texts - obviously it has to be somebody who can read German.

Thanks for the insight. It's good to see that, language issues aside, there is such a process in place to ensure that the vision for the setting remains as consistent as it can be.

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No. I do not have any direct business relationship to Catalyst. My contract is with Ulisses only, and then Ulisses holds the contracts with Catalyst. So, if I would have a substantial need for such questions, I would address them to Ulisses, and they would then relay it to their peers at Catalyst, I suppose.

Got it, thanks.

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I do not know, but you will get an answer from feedback@ulisses-spiele.de for sure. Imagine Ulisses as a very small company, with regard to staff. There is no danger that your eMail could get lost or not find one of the guys (or girls) who are familiar with the BattleTech line.

Would it be a problem to try and contact them in English? (It's probably a stupid question, given the ongoing connection they have to English-speaking licence holders in North America, but I wasn't sure how much trouble they'd expect to hear from an Ausländer.)

Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #5 on: 24 April 2013, 16:09:01 »
(As an aside, is there any other era of Andurien history you would like to cover? I would imagine that there'd be a story or two to tell of what happened to the Duchy during the Republic Era, or in the run-up to 3145.)
No doubt there are thousands of stories worth to be told in the BattleTech universe. However, I outlined the Andurienkriege-series in a Hanse-Davion-kind-of-big-thinking.   8) Meaning: As long as the publisher is interested, I would have material for several more novels in "my theatre". Therefore, the question does not arise to me at this point in time.
If Andurienkriege would not sell any more, however, I would feel a stronger calling from even further outer space, like the Marian Hegemony or other Periphery states.

Would it be a problem to try and contact them in English?
Not at all. I dare not to say that any Inner Sphere language will work fine, but English will do the job.  ;)

Nerroth

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #6 on: 24 April 2013, 16:22:01 »
No doubt there are thousands of stories worth to be told in the BattleTech universe. However, I outlined the Andurienkriege-series in a Hanse-Davion-kind-of-big-thinking.   8) Meaning: As long as the publisher is interested, I would have material for several more novels in "my theatre". Therefore, the question does not arise to me at this point in time.
If Andurienkriege would not sell any more, however, I would feel a stronger calling from even further outer space, like the Marian Hegemony or other Periphery states.

Well, if you want to go even further out, there is the Hanseatic League; though whether or not you'd be allowed to peek under the veil covering the Hansa's fate post-3090 is another matter.

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Not at all. I dare not to say that any Inner Sphere language will work fine, but English will do the job.  ;)

I might see about contacting them, in that case.

Thanks again!

Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #7 on: 24 April 2013, 23:48:36 »
Well, if you want to go even further out, there is the Hanseatic League; though whether or not you'd be allowed to peek under the veil covering the Hansa's fate post-3090 is another matter.
If I understand correctly, for original German language books, the BattleTech-Universe starts with the invention of the BattleMech (2439) and ends with Endgame (3067). That would mean that 3090 would be out of the question, anyway. I never poked into that topic too much, though, as my own work is set in the 3030s.

Frabby

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #8 on: 25 April 2013, 02:37:31 »
Thanks for the insight. It's good to see that, language issues aside, there is such a process in place to ensure that the vision for the setting remains as consistent as it can be.
Well, I did see Bernard's earlier posting where he said CGL get manuscripts of the German books. But when I wrote that I heard the Line Developer got summaries, Herb flat out denied it here. Not sure what exactly is going on or why CGL wants the manuscripts if they're not reading them.

In my opinion, the German books - all of them, starting with Phoenix - absolutely must be canonized, i.e. translated and published in English. As it stands, the German BT line is something of an alternate BT universe with its own canon, and that needs to be fixed asap or they risk a split in the fan base which can't be good.
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Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #9 on: 25 April 2013, 04:00:30 »
Well, I did see Bernard's earlier posting where he said CGL get manuscripts of the German books. But when I wrote that I heard the Line Developer got summaries, Herb flat out denied it here. Not sure what exactly is going on or why CGL wants the manuscripts if they're not reading them.
That's an interesting statement I was not aware of.
I do not know who in person gets these outlines, but what I know for sure is that I have to do my outline in English, and that it is sent to the US for approval. If it is not the Line Developer who checks these outlines, then it must be somebody else. Who? I do not know ... But if I do not overlook anything significant, it must be somebody at Catalyst or at Topps, or maybe even both ...
Something that is related to this: The cover artwork of the German novels is checked in the US, as well. One of the covers was rejected and replaced as it showed an unseen 'mech in the original proposal. That was in the very beginning of the "Ulisses era", and I provided them with a list of unseen 'mechs so this kind of trouble can be avoided now. In the meantime, Ulisses staff itself became a lot more "BattleTech nerdy", partly because they hired some long standing BattleTech fans as their employees, so I assume they operate on a much higher level of canonicity now, anyway.

Nerroth

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #10 on: 25 April 2013, 12:18:30 »
If I understand correctly, for original German language books, the BattleTech-Universe starts with the invention of the BattleMech (2439) and ends with Endgame (3067). That would mean that 3090 would be out of the question, anyway. I never poked into that topic too much, though, as my own work is set in the 3030s.

So they are under a similar restriction that FanPro in North America were under in the "grace period" before they were allowed to go into the Jihad? Curious.

(But you know, the Hansa were around in the early 31st century, too...)

nckestrel

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #11 on: 25 April 2013, 12:30:26 »
Well, I did see Bernard's earlier posting where he said CGL get manuscripts of the German books. But when I wrote that I heard the Line Developer got summaries, Herb flat out denied it here. Not sure what exactly is going on or why CGL wants the manuscripts if they're not reading them.

In my opinion, the German books - all of them, starting with Phoenix - absolutely must be canonized, i.e. translated and published in English. As it stands, the German BT line is something of an alternate BT universe with its own canon, and that needs to be fixed asap or they risk a split in the fan base which can't be good.

The same is true of the many different computer games as well, but BattleTech is still going. 
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Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #12 on: 26 April 2013, 02:47:34 »
Sorry for my lengthy post following - probably I got carried away a little ...  :-[


From my perspective, the question of translation is not so much on ensuring a consistent canon of the BattleTech universe, although I can see Frabby's point.
The crucial question to me is: Are there enough potential readers in the English speaking world who would be interested to read BattleTech novels which do not advance the timeline, but are set "in the good old times" of the Star League, the Succession Wars, and the Clan Invasion?
Still, the fate of whole planets can be at stake in these novels, let alone the fortune of the characters involved, but you won't see any Inner Sphere shaking surprises, like the history of the Draconis Combine taking an astonishing turn. In some way, they can be compared to novels set in real world history - there can be interesting thrillers set in the World War II scenario, but the big question of who won the war is clear to every reader even before page 1 of the book. That means that these novels gravitate not around the "Universe shaking questions", but around characters, units, planets, or, at maximum, the fate of smaller fractions in the BattleTech Universe (for some reason, Andurien and the Magistracy of Canopus come to my mind).
Whichever company would consider bringing these novels to the English speaking community, would have to ask this question. How much revenue could be generated from it? Adding potential further revenue, as new fiction might bring new fans to the BT Universe who then would also be interested in other BT material?
Second question is: How much would it cost? There are several components to this: The licence fee for the story to be paid to Ulisses, the translation, the proof reading (real editing stage is usually skipped for translations, so cost of the editor can be saved), layout, cover art work, potentially printing, warehousing, distribution, advertising.
While the "cost" side of this calculation usually is quite easy to do, the "revenue" side is extremely uncertain. With a huge marketing department, you could do market studies, but these are expensive, so usually it is wiser to launch a test balloon and try 2 or 3 books, observing closely how the market reacts.
Ulisses, by the way, was in the same situation in terms of the BattleTech franchise as a whole: There had not been new fiction or gaming material for several years, the BattleTech community had gone underground (meaning there were a lot of chapters with no connection to each other) and nobody knew if the "re-launch" of BattleTech would be a success. This month, there was a huge event with a parallel scenario played in around 10 cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland simultaneously, with a head quarter at Ulisses', establishing interconnection of the "battle fields" (like a scout lance blasted in Hamburg resulting in a malus in initiative rolls for the forces of that fraction in Nuremberg). Couple of hundred players participated, so I reckon for the German language market, the question is answered for BattleTech in general, and the novel line seems to go slow pace, but steady.
« Last Edit: 01 May 2013, 02:02:31 by Bernard »

Nerroth

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #13 on: 02 March 2014, 21:48:15 »
I just double-checked on the Ulisses Spiele site, and it looks like the third Andurienkriege book is due out this May.

(What would the English title of the that volume be? There seem to be a number of possible translations for "Gier", but I wasn't sure which fitted this book's context.)


Bernard

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #14 on: 03 March 2014, 01:58:06 »
I just double-checked on the Ulisses Spiele site, and it looks like the third Andurienkriege book is due out this May.

(What would the English title of the that volume be? There seem to be a number of possible translations for "Gier", but I wasn't sure which fitted this book's context.)
Yes, the cover was already revealed and is avaiable for download at the location you linked, and the book will be out this May. "Gier" should translate into "Greed" - we are talking about the Magistracy of Canopus here.  ;)

Frabby

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #15 on: 03 March 2014, 03:31:42 »
I just double-checked on the Ulisses Spiele site, and it looks like the third Andurienkriege book is due out this May.

(What would the English title of the that volume be? There seem to be a number of possible translations for "Gier", but I wasn't sure which fitted this book's context.)
Tsk tsk... somebody hasn't used Sarna.  :)

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Andurienkriege 3: Gier (Greed)
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Nerroth

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #16 on: 03 March 2014, 15:33:01 »
Yes, the cover was already revealed and is avaiable for download at the location you linked, and the book will be out this May. "Gier" should translate into "Greed" - we are talking about the Magistracy of Canopus here.  ;)

I see, thanks.

Also, I noted in another thread that it looks like Alpha Strike will be available in German next month.

It will be interesting to see how well it does there, or if those likely to play it would prefer to import the English version of the rulebook instead.

Tsk tsk... somebody hasn't used Sarna.  :)

Sturm auf Arc-Royal (Assault on Arc-Royal)
Waffengefährten (Brothers-in-arms - book five of the Bear Cycle)
Andurienkriege 3: Gier (Greed)

It hadn't occured to me to check about the new books there, sorry...

makulator

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Re: Ulisses Spiele questions
« Reply #17 on: 04 March 2014, 05:45:13 »
Alphastrike is already played in Germany.
I and many of my friends like to buy rules in english because we had some bad experience with translated battletech rulebooks.

Maybe with a german edition of the rules it will reach a broader audience in germany.
We like it...its really a great game...finally a tabletop for Battletech which works well.
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