If you have ever crossed paths with me on Facebook or in person, you will know I have a philosophy of "Positive and Proactive" in regards to the Expanded Universe movement. What can be done? So here is a simple suggestion we all can do to help the EU movement. It is fast, It is easy, it is repeatable, and it may get some unpredictable results. A while back I was looking for an Out of Print (OOP) Book; a book I had loved during my academic career. I rediscovered it on Amazon, but only from third party sellers, who were asking way too much for the old print books. Supply and Demand, the price went up the rarer it was. Then I noticed a small button in the middle of the Product Page, near the "Product Details", there was a picture of a Kindle and a link saying: "Tell the Publisher! I'd like to read this book on Kindle". If I got the book on Kindle, I would always have this reference resource on my tablet or phone. On my own, for my out of print academic title, it took me about a year for the Kindle conversion. While I was requesting my OOP title, over and over again, waiting for my old school book to become available, I started thinking about Star Wars books, my beloved Expanded Universe, and it's many out of print, lost stories; Like Young Jedi Knights, Junior Jedi Knights, Galaxy of Fear Series, The Last of The Jedi Series and Jedi Apprentice series.
So, I started requesting the out of print SW books on Kindle. I was so thrilled when I finally had some success with the Jedi Quest Series. Go, look on Amazon, most of the Jedi Quest series now has a a Kindle option available. I'll wait. Had others joined me? Had the popularity of a "film character", Anakin Skywalker among the Prequel Generation aided my own "Jedi Quest"? I know Anakin is my eldest nephew's favorite character, be Anakin Dark or Light, Jedi or Sith. Whenever the subject would come up, "Is there anything we can do for the EU movement?"; and occasionally, I began suggesting this course of action in my EU conversations for the passed few months. Trying to rally others to request the OOP SW titles on Kindle. This is an affordable way to offer easier access to the long forgotten, but still engaging and loved EU stories. This could revive interest in them in the hands of new fans, as our friends at the Twin Suns Foundation are doing with physical book donations, what if we could get these titles digitally, too? * Why is this important? * Most of these books are long out of print, they are simply not making any more of them, not even with a Legends banner. Yet, some of these series cover huge chunks of time in the Expanded Universe; a large part of the story is simply being omitted from publisher neglect. The Jedi Apprentice Series offers insight in to the relationship of Master and Apprentice between Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi, the early years. You were there when Jaina and Jacen were born in The Last Command (Zahn's Heir to the Empire / Thrawn Trilogy), but what about their training with Uncle Luke in the Young Jedi Knights series, before their adult Jedi Knight careers and fates? If you have been hunting these titles on the secondary market, then you know how expensive these novels have become, how rare or hard to find, Supply and Demand. There has been a gap as large as twenty years where these books have been out of circulation. That is one reason why people don't know about them. A whole generation has grown up without them, while many of these titles and series were the gateway into the Star Wars fandom for many of my generation. Also, if your original Young Jedi Knights paperbacks are "well loved" and have fallen into disrepair, how would you ever replace them? What of the a fore mentioned lost generation of fans? They have never had the opportunity to read the adventures of Young Jaina and Jacen Solo, Tenel Ka Djo, Lowbacca and friends, as many of us did in middle school, high school, maybe for some of us, *ahem* college. Preserving these stories in E-book form will provide a new opportunity for new fans to find the Expanded Universe and discover these stories and characters that we veteran Star Wars fans have loved for so long and so often advocate. Then, we can have #WeBuyLegends efforts for these adventures with our newly recruited EU fans. Now, you may say: "but I already have all these books, I already spent the money, I don't want to give Disney/Lucasfilm money, I don't want to read it digitally, I don't want a Legends Banner on my book, I prefer physical books." Trust me, in my attempts to suggest this plan, I've heard it all. The truth is: it not about you, it is about getting more fans interested in our beloved EU stories and turning more people to our cause. Like it or not, E-books of all platforms maybe the future; so, why not embrace it while there is heavy interest in converting and preserving classic titles into digital form? We need to make this request now, while we, the veteran Star Wars EU fans, who still remember these stories when they were new and are still here to request them, and pass them on to the next generation of Jedi Knights, Sith Apprentices, Scoundrels and Mandalorians.
The request steps on Amazon are as follows:
1) Go to the Amazon or AmazonSmile website https://www.amazon.com https://smile.amazon.com (to Support the Twin Suns Foundation)
2) Find an out of print Star Wars novel series, Examples: Young Jedi Knights books, Galaxy of Fear series, Junior Jedi Knights, Jedi Apprentice, etc. Find their product pages for each book in the series.
3) Scroll down to Product Details.
4) On the right side, you will see the link to "Tell the Publisher you would like to read this on Kindle" next to the picture of the Kindle. Click on the link.
5) Repeat for other Out of Print Star Wars Expanded Universe Titles. (Yes, even Jedi Prince)
That is all; You don't even have to sign in to your account. You don't even have to be at home. You could be on your phone, a trip, a tablet, multiple times a day while you are Holiday Shopping online.
This is a "Positive & Proactive" way you can have an impact on the Continue the Star Wars Expanded Universe / Legends movement. Maybe repeat these steps if you find yourself on Amazon. As I've said, I have gotten results on my own with Jedi Quest and other OOP Non Star Wars titles, but it took me about a year on my own. Imagine if we all united and do this together, and get a friend to do it, too. Its a simple numbers game; the more requests, the faster the book will be available on Kindle, the more fans we can turn to our cause, the more requests we can make, and so on. These are out of print because the publishers think there isn't a market for these titles; let's show them there is an interest in reading these stories again. * But I don't have a Kindle * We can do this for all E-book platforms, too. I have the Kindle App on my phone, so no matter where I go, I have "a galaxy far, far away. . . " in the palm of my hand. I am sharing this method for Kindle because it is the only one I know, for the moment; but if you discover how to request OOP titles on Itunes or Nook or any other E-book formats and apps, let us know in the comments and we will share the steps here. Maybe in a future Smuggler's Route article, I can report back our success. Let’s get these titles circulating again, awakening the imagination of the next generation, as they did for many of us. Do not let our Legends stories and Heroes be forgotten. Help others take their first steps into a larger universe, a Star Wars Expanded Universe. Give these out of print titles a new life as digital Force Ghosts, guiding future generations for years to come. NOTE: I will recommend that if you do buy these titles once available through Amazon, to be sure to support the Twin Suns Foundation through Amazon Smile.
To see more EU news & updates, click here!