*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.