When Deep Space Nine ended its seventh season in 1999, Pocket Books saw an opportunity to continue the on-screen storyline in the novels.  They were assured by the studio that no further stories would be presented in TV or film, and received permission to go forward with this plan.

The two-part story Avatar marked the relaunch of that series.  It was the first time in Star Trek fiction that the story telling picked up where an on-screen series had ended and would go forward in future novels with a continual story.  To differentiate the relaunched novels, Pocket Books decided to do away with the original numbering system.

As each on-screen Star Trek series ended, the particular book series was relaunched in a similar fashion.  Voyager wrapped series production in 2001, and the book series was relaunched in 2003 with Homecoming.

The Star Trek the Next Generation book line dropped its numbering scheme in 2001.  But with Death in Winter, the first story published after the film Star Trek Nemesis, the TNG series was relaunched.  Death in Winter began where Nemesis had ended.

The Star Trek: Enterprise novels never had a numbering scheme.  Nevertheless, they were relaunched in 2006 after the series left the air with the book Last Full Measure.

While there might be individual stories that take place during the time of each series’ on-air setting, the novels of each Star Trek series have continued to tell original stories that advance and develop the lives of each crew, one novel at a time.

The relaunch is unique in fiction, and the fact that it has worked so well speaks to the strength and flexibility of the Star Trek franchise as a whole.