Scott Nance at SyFy Protal is reporting that Pocket Books will be doing a series of novels based on “The 4400” television program.

“Hopefully by the time I get back to New York, I’ll have a contract for ‘The 4400,'” Executive Editor Margaret Clark told SyFy Portal in an exclusive interview during the annual Shore Leave science fiction convention in Maryland. ” …I have had a deal in principle on this since November. I just don’t have a contract, so I can’t buy books unless I have a contract.”

The recent corporate split between Viacom and CBS is blamed for slowing down progress on the deal. “Until I have a [signed] contract with the licensor, I can’t hire an author …” Clark said.

Pocket will also publish the novelization of the film “Spider Man 3,” Clark said. “We’re constantly looking at the movie studios and television. It’s like, ‘We’re the Media Tie-In Group. If it’s media, let us look at it,'” Clark said. Added Senior Editor Marco Palmieri, “It’s very much become a specialty within Simon & Schuster.”

Dealing with a property or franchise licensed by a studio or network requires special treatment.

“Also, dealing with a licensor is not the same thing as dealing with an agent,” Clark said. “I always tell people, ‘It’s the old analogy: It’s their toy. You get to play with it but you’ve got to put it back. You can’t break any of the pieces and you can’t complain if he tells you ‘that’s enough.’

“It’s sort of like you have to have a respect for what they’re doing and to know when you can push and when you can’t,” she said. Pocket’s success and track record over about a quarter-century releasing Trek books attracts many studios and networks to work with the publisher, Clark said.

Submitted by: Sevens (SoSF Staff Reporter)