A few pieces of news --
-- Scholastic has informed me of plans to do a new, second series of BIONICLE books starting in late 2008, in addition to the regular ones they have been doing. These will be what they call Level 3 Readers and will be aimed at 5-6 year olds -- similar to what they have done for Batman and other lines. I am writing the first one, and we will see how they do and whether they want me to do the others.
While I am going to make an effort for these to be canon, they will NOT be referenced in other BIONICLE story areas, because I don't want 14 year old fans feeling they have to read something written for a 6 year old to keep up with story. They are going to be very short (about 1500 words), so if you have little brothers interested in BIONICLE and not old enough to read the comics or books yet, this might be a good way to get them started.
It's a little bit of a gamble on the part of Scholastic, because that is not traditionally the BIONICLE audience. However, a lot of the Scholastic audience is that young, and recruiting future 8-9 year olds is important for the health of our franchise. So we will give this a shot and see if we can raise awareness of BIONICLE prior to the movie. Its success or failure will not impact the comic, web site, movie, etc., which will still be aimed at the 9-11 audience.
Anyway, on to the timeline for this year, as best as I know it --
The March comic, Bionicle Legends #9, and Bionicle Legends #10 all take place at roughly the same time, along with the Makuta and Brutaka web serials.
The Takanuva biocast will take place just after the events of Book 10, but will explain in brief what is going on with him so you won't be lost.
The first Level 3 reader will occur between the events of Bionicle Legends #10 and the biocast -- since I am not expecting the reader fans to be looking at any of the other material that much, I am not worrying as much about timeline with those books.
2008 Timeline
Posted by GregF on
Well I can try via this.
I thought the Makuta Serial occured in a flashback though?
-KW- (Sora and Kid Cat for Brawl!)
Oh, and interesting idea with the books, although I agree with you, it seems a gamble to me...
Greg
So the little kiddies will get a peek into the action... um... but
I'm worried that they might forget us old folks... I mean it's great doing something for the kids... but the people with money tend to be a bit older...... I hope they don't forget us...
Lady Ranna
It's also good to know we don't need to get the younger books for ourselves.
Hmm, 1500 words is shorter than some of the stuff in the BZP Library forum. (So I wonder if they will appear online sometime....)
We don't need to read these because we'll get that info, if it's needed, in the comics and regular books, right?
-CF
LZ
Well five years ago when I was six I was introduced to my cousin in Canada during a vacation,he showed me the comics.So I see the need for that.
Little Zivon -- Bluntly, there aren't enough of you. The percentage of people over age 11 or 12 who are into BIONICLE is so small that it wouldn't translate into enough book sales. (Let's face it, I see very few complaints that the tone of the books is too juvenile for a 14 year old, yet I also see tons of BZPers in that age range who don't buy the books -- they just come here to read spoilers.)
The advantage of going after younger kids is that you can hopefully turn them into BIONICLE fans who will then buy sets for the next four or five years. If I capture the attention of, say, a 15 year old tomorrow, is it likely he will suddenly start buying a lot of LEGO sets? Or, like the "Inconvenient Situation" topic starter, is he more likely to face a lot of parental and peer pressure not to buy them?
But then again, who knows?
From a business point of view, this is a very good idea, I feel it may be successful, especially with you as the author.
~CN
-TNTOS-
Greg