Just Add Writer: Out Now!

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Just Add Writer: Out Now!

Today – May 14, 2025 – my latest how-to-writebook, Just Add Writer, is officially unleashed upon an unsuspectingworld! This book focuses on writing media tie-in fiction and nonfiction, and towhet your appetite (and hopefully get you to order a copy), I’ve posted thefirst chapter below.

About thebook:

Thisone-of-a-kind resource provides everything needed on your journey to become aprofessional author of media tie-ins, including:

Sample pitches, outlines, and chapters

Advice on honing your “shared world” writing skills

Real-world examples of IP assignments

Strategies for finding IP work

Tips for completing jobs quickly

Plus,there are interviews with industry professionals included throughout the book,so you get different perspectives on the craft and business of writing tie-ins.

JUST ADD WRITER

CHAPTER ONE

OVERVIEW OF MEDIA TIE-IN FICTION

What is Media Tie-In Fiction?

A media tie-in is an work of prose fiction based on characters/settings/scenarioscreated and owned by someone else. And these IP’s – intellectual properties –originally appeared in different forms of media: a movie, a TV show, avideogame, a board game, a comic, etc. A writer is hired specifically by the licenseholder – often via a publisher – to produce this work. The license holder isboss, and the writer is a hired hand. You create what the license holder wantsand the final product must meet the license holder’s approval. Your name willbe on the book, but the license holder owns everything in it – every character,event, and setting, even the ones you’ve created whole cloth. While you haverestrictions regarding what you can and can’t do with the IP, there is room forindividual creativity and style, just not as much as when you write your ownoriginal fiction.

Why would anyone want to write under theseconditions?

Writing tie-in fiction is fun

Like any other writing, it’s work, but it’s funwork. I published my first tie-in story in 1997, and in the decades since,I’ve gotten to write fiction based on Supernatural,The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Transformers, Halloween and more. My imagination was shaped by popculture as I grew up, and it’s been wonderful to make a contribution, howeversmall, to so many media properties I’ve loved.

It’s challenging

We’ll go over specific techniques for writingtie-in fiction in later chapters, but tie-ins require you to understand themedia property – the milieu, the characters, their voices – and bring it tolife in prose form while adding much more depth. You need to collaborateclosely with the license holder and please them, while also writing a bookyou’re proud of. It’s a complex balancing act, and I find it stretches me indifferent ways than writing my original fiction does.

You may write in different genres, so there’svariety

One time you write a kids’ novel based on aspace adventure property, the next you write a novelization of a fantasy film, afterthat you write a military adventure based on a videogame, and then you write ashort story about an iconic horror villain for an anthology. Sure, some tie-inwriters find a niche – such as writing Star Trek novels – and stick withit throughout their careers, but others enjoy the freedom that comes from notknowing what their next gig will be.

You develop different writing skills

I already mentioned several such skills when Idiscussed challenges above. In addition, you have to learn how to takesomething that’s primarily experienced by the senses and communicate it inwords. Food critics, sports writers, nature writers, travel writers all do thesame thing. With media tie-in fiction, you’re usually taking visual media ofsome sort (often with sound effects and special effects) and translating itinto prose. You also may broaden your research skills because you’ll need tofind information on some specialized topics, like what an elephant smells like,how high satellites orbit the Earth, or how fast Sonic the Hedgehog can run.

You have a knack for it (not every writerdoes)

Some writers can move between genres andstyles easier than others. Same for those writers whose imaginations can slipinside characters and worlds they didn’t create. Some writers can work withinthe collaborative dynamic of tie-in writing, some prefer not to, and some wouldrather die than not have total control over their fiction. If you do have theknack and the right temperament, tie-in writing might be for you.

You get paid

You’re not going to get rich writing tie-ins. Forthat matter, you’re not going to get rich writing any kind of fiction. Yeah,there are authors who are exceptions to this rule, but not many. If you want tomake money writing, write nonfiction or get into ghostwriting. I write fictionbecause I love it, and it’s the truest, deepest expression of who I am. Thetype of fiction I love to write best is horror and dark fantasy, the weirder,the better. Because of this, most of my novels have been published by medium tosmall presses, and the advances range from okay to laughably small (ornonexistent). I tend to get higher advances for tie-in novels than for myoriginal fiction (but not always). I might get ten times the advance from atie-in publisher than I would from a small-press one. I have a day job as acollege English professor, so I don’t have to live off my writing, but my bankaccount always welcomes money from tie-in advances. And there’s been more thanone time when that money has made a big difference during unforeseen disasters,such as suddenly needing to buy a new car or replace the roof on my house. Ifsomeone were able to write several tie-in novels a year and could count on theincome being steady year in and year out (which is a mighty big if),they could conceivably support themselves entirely from their writing.

Types of Tie-In Fiction

Novelizations: a film script turned into a novel.

Novels, Novellas, Short Stories: new fiction using characters or a setting owned by a license holder.

Comics: new stories or a film adaptation featuring characters or a setting owned by a license holder.

Fictional Nonfiction: A nonfiction form such as a journal, memoir, autobiography, or guidebook that is written as if a character owned by a license holder composed it.

Material for Young Readers: Writing for young adult, middle-grade, and child audiences in any of the above categories.

How is Tie-In Fiction Different Than FanFiction?

The key difference appears in the firstsentence of this chapter: officially licensed.

Justlike a scriptwriter is hired to write an episode of your favorite TV series ora sequel to a movie you love, tie-in writers are professionals hired to writefiction based on a media property that you love. We might be fans of theproperty too, or we might not. (If we aren’t, we might become fans during theprocess of writing about a property.) Fan fiction is written by enthusiasts whowant to interact with a media property they love in a creative way. I’m by nomeans knocking fan fiction. My version of King Kong vs Godzilla was fanfiction, and so were my Bionic Team comics (especially since I wouldsometimes have media characters like Spider-Man, Darth Vader, or Kermit theFrog show up in stories. Did I mention the comics were comedy as much asadventure?).

Fan fiction writers are amateurs, maybe onlyin the sense that they aren’t being paid for their work, but also because theymay be new at the craft of fiction writing and are still learning. Since theyaren’t writing at the direction of a license holder, they can do whatever theywant in their stories with no restrictions. They can even have characters fromone franchise interact with characters from another, something the individual licenseholders might never permit. People read, write, and share fan fiction for fun,and there’s not a damn thing wrong with that. And some people use it as atraining ground before going on to write original fiction of their own.

License holders, including creators oforiginal work, are officially supposed to disapprove of fan fiction because ifthey don’t, they’re giving others tacit permission to use their IP, and theymight end up losing the copyright to it. My guess is that most writers don’tcare if fan fiction based on their characters exists or they’re actuallyflattered by it, but they have to pretend they don’t approve of it inorder to maintain copyright to their work. So don’t use any of my originalcharacters or settings in your fan fiction. I do not approve (wink, wink).

Later in the book, I’ll talk more aboutwriting fan fiction as a way to prepare yourself to write tie-in fiction.

How Tie-In Fiction DOESN’T Work

· You can’t decide to write a piece of tie-infiction on your own and then publish it. I once received anemail from a gentleman who’d finished an Alien novel and wanted to knowwho at Titan Books he should contact about getting it published. I feltterrible for this guy, but I had to explain to him how the tie-in process works.Book editors obtain a license to publish a certain amount of tie-in novelsabout a specific IP, like Alien, they seek out established authors andcontract them to write the books. The editor and the license holder shape theidea for the book along with the writer, and once they approve a final outlinefor a novel, then the writer can begin writing it. I advised the man to makeenough changes to his book so that it no longer was a strict tie-in to Alienbut a piece of fiction that was clearly inspired by Alien while stillbeing original. Pro writers refer to this as filing off the serial numbers.I don’t know what the guy did, but I hope he started writing original fiction.

· You can’t begin your writing career by writingtie-in fiction. There are exceptions. For example, if you workfor a game company that wants to start producing tie-in fiction based on theirproperties, and they intend to publish it themselves, they might hire someonefrom within the company to write it. But this is rare. Editors and licenseholders want to hire established writers to produce tie-in fiction.

· You won’t land a tie-in writing gig justbecause you’re a huge fan of a media property. Editorsand license holders like it if you’re a fan of an IP, but it isn’t necessary. Theywant to know that you’re a professional writer with a good track record ofproducing publishable fiction. They know such writers can learn about the IPquickly enough to get up to speed.

MythsAbout Writing Tie-In Fiction

· Tie-in fiction is inferior hack work. Backin the 1950s and 1960s, it wasn’t uncommon for some publishers to bring outquickly written tie-in novels that had simplistic plots written in equallysimple prose. But those days were over a long time ago. Tie-in fiction writers todaywork as hard at their craft as any other writer. Since tie-in fiction iswritten to entertain, you’re not going to see experimental narrative techniquesor in-depth character studies more common to literary writers, but you will geta damn good book to read.

· Tie-in fiction is easier to write thanoriginal fiction. It’s no easier or harder to write thanoriginal fiction. It’s just different, and it’s not even all that different. Allthe same basic skills of writing good fiction apply – characterization, plot,setting, description, dialogue, use of language, pace . . . The collaborativenature of writing tie-in fiction might make it harder for some writers, though,along with adapting their voice and style to that of the IP property.

· Tie-in writers only care about money. Hell,who doesn’t care about money? Writers have to eat just like everyone else. Butmoney isn’t the sole motivation for writers. If all we wanted was to makemoney, we would’ve become doctors or lawyers. But tie-in fiction writersconsider themselves professionals, so of course they wish to be paid for theirlabor. Beyond this, since the license holder will own all the rights to anywork tie-in writers produce, writers can never make any additional profit offit. If they aren’t paid for writing a book or story, they won’t receive anymoney for their time, effort, and creativity.

· Writing about public domain characters istie-in fiction, too. Tie-in fiction is officially licensed by alicense holder, remember? Public domain characters and settings are no longer ownedby individual people or companies. They’re owned by the world. That’s whypeople can write books, produce comics, and make films based on Dracula andFrankenstein. Beyond the legal reason, there’s an artistic reason such worksaren’t tie-ins. You have the freedom to do whatever you want with thesecharacters. Want to make Baron Frankenstein into Baroness Frankenstein? Go forit. Want to make King Arthur an android sent from the future to be King ofBritain? Write that story! Want to make Winnie-the-Pooh into a horror movievillain? Too late – someone’s already beat you to it. There’s no one to tellyou what you can and can’t do with these characters, and you can follow yourcreative impulses wherever they take you. Later, we’ll talk about how you canuse writing about public domain characters as preparation for writing officiallylicensed tie-in fiction.

You could make the argument that fictiongenres like science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, mystery, western, etc. areactually tie-ins, in the sense that they’re based on successful stories thatwere once original and considered Literature with a capital L. These storiesinfluenced publishers and writers to imitate them, and readers loved them andwanted more. Over time, the tropes in these genres became so codified thatwriters could consciously follow them. Writers have lots of freedom whenemploying these tropes, but they have restrictions, too. Murders must be solvedby the end of mystery novels, romance novels need to have a happily ever afterending, etc. Writers of literary fiction tend to view writers of genre fictionas producing formulaic fiction (which is why I think it’s hysterical when somegenre writers look down on tie-in writers.)

OTHER TYPES OF TIE-IN FICTION

Fiction Written Under House Names

A house name is when a publisher creates a bookseries where each volume may be written by different authors, but for marketingpurposes, is credited to a single, shared pseudonym. Sometimes this name is anauthor who started the series, and the publisher buys the right to use theirname as the author on future editions. For example, Don Pendleton, creator ofthe Men’s Adventure hero The Executioner, wrote thirty-seven novelsfeaturing his character. The rest of the books in the series – all 416 of them– bore his name but were written by other writers. When writing under a housename, the true author may or may not be credited in some small way. The Executionerbooks would include a statement inside the book, practically hidden among thepublishing information, which went something like this: “Gold Eagleacknowledges REAL AUTHOR’s contribution to this book.” House names were muchmore common in the past, but they’re still used for children’s book series,with Erin Evans of Warriors fame being a notable example.

Are these books tie-ins? It depends on who youask. A lot of publishing professionals regard tie-ins as works of fiction basedon other media properties, such as movies, video games, etc., but not based on otherpeople’s literary creations. On the other hand, as long as someone else ownsthe IP, some do consider books written under a house name to be tie-ins. They’rebasically the same in terms of both craft and business concerns, so I tend tothink of them as tie-ins. And if they aren’t exactly the same thing, they’reclosely related.

Ghostwriting

Ghostwriting is when an author is hired towrite a book that will be published under someone else’s name (often a famous someone),and that person gets all the credit for the writer’s work. That person willalso see all the profits from the book. Writing under a house name is a form ofghostwriting, except the publisher is the one who gets the lion’s share of themoney. Ghostwriting is far more prevalent in nonfiction than fiction, and oftenthe “author” is kind enough to mention the real writer’s “assistance” in theacknowledgements. (This is called a semi-visible ghost because the author’sname does appear in the book, even if the full extent of their contributionisn’t spelled out.) William Shatner did this with his Tek War series,always making sure to credit Ron Goulart as a co-author.

Some years back, fantasy author Dennis L. McKiernan– my friend and mentor – was offered a gig to write a tie-in based on a fantasycomputer game (I don’t recall which one.) Dennis told the publisher he wasn’tinterested, and they asked if they could use his name as the author and havesomeone else ghostwrite the book (paying Dennis a fee for using his name, ofcourse). Dennis politely declined.

Gothic thriller writer V. C. Andrews wrote sevenbooks before she died. Her family hired Andrew Neiderman to produce more booksunder her name, and they kept his identity a secret for many years beforefinally allowing him to tell the public. Neiderman has been writing as “V. C. Andrews”longer than the actual V. C. Andrews did, and he’s produced almost 200 books underher name.

There are also famous writers who eventuallytire of producing new books on the schedule that readers and publishers demand(or who burn out entirely), and sometimes they or their publisher hireghostwriters to continue producing books under their name. I have no idea howprevalent this practice is, but I’ve been told that it happens a lot more thanyou’d think. So if you read the next novel by one of your favorite authors andit sounds like it wasn’t written by them, maybe it wasn’t.

Is ghostwriting a form of tie-in writing? Itdepends on the type you do. If a business person hires you to write a book forthem so they can put their name on it and bolster their credentials as an“expert,” then it’s not tie-in writing. Neither is penning the autobiographyfor a famous movie star, pop singer, or athlete. But if you ghostwrite a novelbased on an IP someone else owns, then it does count. And, of course, thedemarcation can be fuzzy at times.

There’s a moral question at the heart ofghostwriting. Is it fraud? Publishers sell a book as written by a specificperson, and when readers purchase that book, they expect it to actually bewritten by the credited author. If it isn’t, they’re purchasing a productthat’s been falsely advertised. The V. C. Andrews estate included a note witheach of the novels ghostwritten by Neiderman, saying the family selected awriter to write novels based on notes and outlines left behind after the realV.C. Andrews died. This was true for a few books, but Neiderman soon started writing Andrews books on his own, and the note never changed. So not exactlytotal truth in advertising, but a hell of a lot better than most ghostwrittenbooks. Ghostwriting has been around for ages, and publishers don’t consider itfraud, but I’m not so sure they’re right. I’d rather know who wrote the bookI’m buying.

Why would anyone ghostwrite? Some people loveto write but they don’t care whether they receive credit or not. Plus,ghostwriting can pay well, sometimes really well. But unless you getpermission, as Neiderman eventually did, you can never tell anyone that youghostwrote that wildly popular novel currently sitting atop the bestsellerlists. (Your eternal silence is part of the deal.)

I’ve never ghostwritten a book, but I was asemi-visible ghost for two books written with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson ofSyFy’s Ghost Hunters fame. It was a good experience, the guys weregreat, and I got my name on the cover (even if my name was smaller than Jasonand Grant’s). I don’t count these books as tie-ins, though, since theycontained original characters and storylines.

CURRENT ATTITUDES TOWARD TIE-IN FICTION

In the past, many people wrote tie-in fictionunder a pseudonym, as if they didn’t want people to know they’d done somethingso shameful. But attitudes toward tie-in fiction have changed dramatically overthe years, especially among younger readers and writers. Writing tie-in fictionis seen as cool and something to aspire to. Maybe these younger folks grew upeven more saturated in popular culture than my generation did. And maybe the mainstreamsuccess of properties like Doctor Who and Marvel superheroes have helpedto change attitudes toward tie-in fiction. It’s not uncommon these days for peopleto ask me about my tie-in novels more than my original ones, and they oftenseem impressed by the fact that I write tie-in fiction. Do I resent people notcaring as much about my original fiction? No. I’m just glad people care aboutmy work at all.

Now that you have a solid foundation in thebasics of writing tie-in fiction, starting in the next chapter, I’m going totell you what it’s really like to be a tie-in author. Buckle up! Butfirst . . .

EXERCISES

1) Are there any tie-in novels that you’veread that you especially enjoyed, even loved? Make a list of them. The gothrough the list and write down the specific qualities each book had that madeit so enjoyable for you. When you’re finished, look over the list and see ifyou can find any common elements that stick out. Did the characters affect youthe most? The setting? The action? Getting a sense of what narrative elementsyou respond to most strongly can give you some insight into how you might writeyour own tie-in fiction. More character-oriented, more setting-oriented, etc.

2) Are there any specific IP’s that you’d loveto write for? Make a list, and for each item write a reason why this IP is soattractive to you as a writer. Doing this can give you insight into what kindof IP’s you might like to write for someday – specific ones, of course, such asStar Wars or The Fast and the Furious, but also different genres,like action-adventure, science fiction, or romance.

3) Do you think you’d prefer to write tie-infiction for adults or for young people? Why does writing for one audienceinterest you more than writing for the other? Do you think you might like to focusyour efforts more toward one audience than another? If so, why?

PurchaseLinks

Raw DogScreaming Press

https://rawdogscreaming.com/books/just-add-writer/

Amazon

Hardcover: https://tinyurl.com/mubb4xt

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/mrpntydd

Kindle: https://tinyurl.com/28yxzzer

Barnes& Noble

Hardcover: https://tinyurl.com/bdhn56hn

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/4tnmh7xm

eBook: https://tinyurl.com/j3psv6h6

DEPARTMENTOF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

Conan:Spawn of the Serpent God

Speaking ofmedia tie-in novels, I have aConan the Barbarian novel coming from Titan Booksin October! It was a hell of a lot of fun to write, and I hope fans ofsword-and-sorcery action will enjoy it.

You canfind various preorder links (for Titan, Amazon, and B&N) at the Titan Bookssite: https://titanbooks.com/72365-conan-spawn-of-the-serpent-god/

Synopsis:

InZamora, the city of thieves, Conan meets Valja, a thrill-seeking thief. Sheentices him to join

her on aheist, where they steal a golden statuette of Ishtar, said to contain thegoddess herself.

Afterkilling a dozen guards and failing to escape, the pair are saved by priestessesof Mitra. But

Conanknows that nothing is free.

Thepriestesses have need of their skills. They have waged war against Set, god ofchaos and

serpents,who demands constant sacrifice from his subjects and massacred thousands of his

followers.Yet they are no match for Uzzeran, a powerful sorcerer, who has been performing

unspeakableexperiments on humans in the name of Set. To defeat Uzzeran, they will need a

legendarywarrior on their side. They need Conan the Barbarian.

A formerstudent of mine interviewed me about writing my Conan novel. You can read theinterview here: https://www.blackgate.com/2025/05/11/a-challenge-worth-smiling-about-tim-waggoner-on-writing-conan/

Exalted:A Shadow Over Heaven’s Eye

In 2025, myninth novel came out. It was a tie-in based on White Wolf’s Exaltedgame, a wuxia-inspired fantasy setting. It was out of print for nearly twentyyears, but now Crossroads Press has brought it back in both trade paperback andeBook formats!

InDefiance of Destiny

Maylea isa young noblewoman in the city of Yane, whose future was mapped out on the dayshe was born—how she would live, what she would do, who she would marry… ButMaylea is not content to blindly consign herself to destiny. And when Swan, afreelance diplomat who is supposed to be dead, arrives at her father’s estate,Maylea begins to realize that her true destiny might be writ larger across thestars than anyone ever suspected.

Exalted:A Shadow Over Heaven’s Eyeis the fifth in a series of novels based on the hugely successful Exaltedproperty.

Amazon

Paperback:https://tinyurl.com/3t2ju4nm

Kindle: https://tinyurl.com/3kmy3mu8

Barnesand Noble

Paperback:https://tinyurl.com/yjy2nwjy

eBook: https://tinyurl.com/w5jp722d

ScheduledAppearances

StokerCon. June 12th toJune 15th. Stamford, Connecticut. I’m one of the guests of honor!

Signingat Vortex Books. June 26th, 5-7pm. Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Horror onMain. June 27th to June 29th. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I’m a guest of honorhere, too!

GenconWriters’ Symposium. July 31st to August 3rd. Indianapolis, Indiana.