The novelization of the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture was written in 1979 by Gene Roddenberry. It is notable as being the only Star Trek novel to be written by Roddenberry, who created the franchise. It was also the first Star Trek novel published by Pocket Books, beginning a prolific relationship with the franchise that continues as of 2012. At the time the book was published, however, Bantam Books held the rights to publish original Star Trek-based fiction; Pocket Books wouldn't publish its first original Trek novel until 1981.