James Blish was known to have expressed an extreme dislike for tie-in fiction; however, he accepted the commission from Bantam Books to novelize episodes of Star Trek, at $2,000 per volume. He later stated his financial stability stemmed from the publication of the novelizations, which likely included the commission for Spock Must Die! (1970), which earned him a $3,000 advance (equivalent to $23,940 in 2022).

Prior to his relocation to the United Kingdom in 1969, Blish had not seen the NBC broadcasts of Star Trek. Nor was he involved in the production of the series in any capacity. His only sources for the adaptations were the draft teleplays sent to him by Desilu. Adaptations published after 1970 aligned more with the narrative tone and pacing from the television series, indicating Blish had seen some episodes, mostly likely via broadcasts by the BBC, which began in the summer of 1969.

Blish was credited exclusively for eleven volumes, although it was later acknowledged that volumes published after Star Trek 6 (1972) were written in collaboration with his wife J. A. Lawrence and her mother, Muriel Lawrence, who was also Blish's assistant. Blish commented favorably about the series in each of his "Author's Notes", however, Josephine Saxton said Blish was "so affected to despise" Star Trek that he did not write any of Star Trek 10 (1974). Blish's personal feelings regarding the merit of Star Trek were expressed by the pun "an enterprise so well conceived" in the "Author's Note" of Spock Must Die!.

Bantam editor Frederik Pohl was unaware of the Lawrences' contributions until sometime in 1973. Star Trek 12 (1977), published after Blish's death in 1975, was co-credited to J. A. Lawrence.