Writing non/cannon novels for existing works?

[WinterDusk14]

I've seen a lot of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo, etc... novels. Are the authors of the mentioned above could be writers of the company? Or a random writer who submits the ms to the company itself?

I'm just curious, cause I'd love to write a Marvel/DC book.=D

[dwellerofthedeep]

Usually such writers are contracted by the company as far as I understand.

[IceCreamEmpress]

Usually such writers are contracted by the company as far as I understand.

Yes.

And you can't submit a manuscript.

The proper approach is to submit a query to the editor of whatever current novelization series you're interested in writing for. If your credentials impress them, and if your idea matches their vision for the series, you might get an offer.

I don't know if either Marvel or DC are doing any novelizations right now, though.

[katiemac]

Yes, they're contracted writers. You'd have to have explicit permission from the company to write a novel using their characters. Still, check out their respective websites and see what you can determine for their rules.

Also, if you mean a Marvel/DC crossover book, I'm sorry to inform you that's not going to happen. That's a major contract headache and the rival companies don't have an incentive to work together to release a project like that.

[IceCreamEmpress]

Yes, they're contracted writers. You'd have to have explicit permission from the company to write a novel using their characters.

And they won't give it, unless it's as a work-for-hire in a novelization series they've already planned.

Seriously, neither Marvel nor DC will let Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists use their characters in their own books.