Tie-in

A tie-in is a published work meant to complement (and derive a profit from) another published work. In general, tie-ins are novels or graphic novels that spring from a movie or television show. 
Tie-in novels have been the subject of widespread discussion in fandom as to whether or not they constitute professional fanfiction - particularly as many tie-in authors got their start writing fanfic. Star Trek tie-ins are one of example of that.
The acceptance of tie-ins among fans also varies from fandom to fandom, as their quality and adherence to canon can vary wildly. The acceptance of tie-ins can also very among TPTB; see George Lucas' rejection of prior authorized works.
Tie-ins are not to be confused with adaptations which are the translation of the same story from one medium to another (e.g. comic book to film) in a way that may or may not be faithful to the source; or novelizations, which translate a film, video game, TV series or similar into a novel form without significantly deviating from its plot. 
An authorized sequel is a tie-in work written with the consent of the author or their estate while a fannish tie-in is a tie-in produced by a fan.
==History==
The history of the tie-in novel is ambiguous. Some properties, published in obscurity, exercise great freedom to change the canon from which they are written (e.g., Diane Duane's Star Trek novels of the late 1970s and early 1980s). Other properties are written strictly to fit into existing 
canon — neither to enlarge it, nor to occlude any possibilities — and thus often find themselves ending on a reset button. One way tie-in writers
have found around this problem is to write original characters in tie-in universes; Peter David created a whole series of Star Trek novels in this vein that have been very successful.
==Star Trek==
See Star Trek Tie-in Novels.
See Pocket Book's Star Trek Pro Novel Guidelines (1985).
See Pocket Book's Star Trek Pro Novel Guidelines (1995).
 
==Pocket Books "Star Trek" Guidelines (1995)==
==As a Gateway to Fandom==
From a fan interview in 2012: 
==Discussions & Views==
===Are Tie-ins Professional Fanfic?===
It is often argued that tie-in novels are professional fanfic. Many tie-in writers started out writing fanfiction, e.g., Una McCormack, Marion Zimmer Bradley. A fan in 2010 commented: "[When] a published fan fiction writer - someone who writes primarily tie-in novels in someone else's universe - announces that fan fiction is evil, because doing it for love is wrong, but doing it for money is right. This makes me make a frowny face, because that isn't what they said in Sex Ed. Professional Writers vs. The People Who Love Their Work, Round Umpty-Snout, by thefourthvine, May 9, 2010 
Some tie-in writers and editors very much disagree that tie-in novels are professional fanfic e.g., John Ordover, Lee Goldberg.
Whether "work-for-hire" and "media tie-ins" are worthy of being called "real" books has been an issue of contention and discussion in the science fiction and fantasy community. See , published in 1998.
===Acceptance of Pro Novels in Different Fandoms===
Tie-ins rarely develop followings in fandom as powerful as their source materials do. Supernatural tie-ins, for example, regularly got details of canon wrong, and are generally not taken as canonical. On the other hand, Buffy comics which continue after the TV series are often discussed as if they definitively extend canon (perhaps due to the fact that Joss Whedon himself wrote the tie-in). Similarly, the Serenity comic series that was published from 2005 to 2017 (authorized, and in part co-written, by Joss Whedon) is seen as a canonical extension of the Firefly universe after the TV show itself was cancelled - in this way, tie-ins can be a useful means of extending a universe beyond its original form.
===Opinions on Quality===
===1983===
A fan in Universal Translator (February 1983) commented on a recently released Star Trek pro novel, contrasting the quality of the stories in the fan realm and the pro realm: "Black Fire is fan-fiction at a level only millimeters above the mediocre, and it's frustrating to see it professionally published when superior material remains confined to fanzines and therefore unknown to the general public."
The earlier issues of theStar Wars letterzine Southern Enclave (1983-2000) contain much discussion regarding "pro-novels": whether or not they are canon, that they have no "heart," that their writers are constrained too much by the Lucas franchise, that writers don't know "what to do about Luke," that they tend to veer towards "suburbia" and too-perfect children, that Han becomes a neutered lap-dog and that the novels are generally a fail.
===1989===
In a 1989 letterzine, a fan wrote of her disgust of a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea tie-in novel titled "City Under the Sea": 
===1995===
From a 1995 discussion: 
===1996===
Boldly Writing says of Star Trek: TOS pro-novels:
Also from Boldly Writing:
From a fan in 2009:
===2010===
While tie-in novels are often picked apart by fans for their lack of continuity, understanding of character, and emotional resonance, one book in the Mass Effect fandom got it so wrong that its publisher issued a public apology:
==Notable Fandoms and Tie-in Works==
* Star Trek Tie-in Novels
:* Killing Time by Della Van Hise
* Forever Knight Tie-in Novels
:* Intimations of Mortality by Susan M. Garrett
* Doctor Who Tie-in Novels
* The current Star Wars Expanded Universe, and the former EU known as Star Wars Legends
* Saving Charlie (Novel), a Heroes tie-in novel
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in comics, published by Dark Horse Comics
* Firefly/Serenity tie-in comics, published by Dark Horse Comics
* Stargate
:* Elizabeth Christensen is a tie-in author in the Stargate franchise
==Further Reading/Meta==
===1988===
* Diane Carey's "Ghost Ship" Letter (1988)
===1994===
* Ten Thousand, All in Advance... Pro Novel News & Reviews (1994)
===1998===
* So you want to get published? by Natalie K. Björklund
===2002===
* Media Tie-Ins (2002 essay) by Peter David
===2003===
* This is the tale of PROBE: The Novel I Didn't Write by Margaret Wander Bonanno (2003 or after)
===2007===
* "It's an exhibition not a competition, please no wagering." Part One; archive link page one; archive link page two, telesilla (April 9, 2007)
* , telesilla (April 9, 2007)
* The difference between fanfic and profic (2007 post), kradical
* Thoughts on the Supernatural novel?; archive link page 1, archive link page 2 (2007)
* by yourlibrarian (2007)
===2009===
* (2009)
* by Vonda N. McIntyre (2009)
===2016===
* panel notes and photos that discussion Star Trek tie-in novels, games, cons (2016)
===Not Dated===
* 
* Star Trek: The Lost Books (pre-2002)
== References ==
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