J.K. Rowling will be taking part in a webcast on Thursday 11th
October at 5pm. The webcast will be streamed live via the Bloomsbury website
and will be available to view after the event.
This is a wonderful opportunity to see the bestselling
author talking about Harry Potter, Pottermore and all things Hogwarts. Children
from schools around the world will be asking questions as well.
At the moment there is a holding page with a countdown but
anybody who would like to see the webcast should go to the link above at 5pm on
11th October where they should be able to view the webcast. This is
the first interview about Harry Potter that the author has done in some years
and will be of interest to fans of all ages.
Got the email through about forty minutes ago and thought I'd update the blog with the news - this is from the Publishers Marketplace email, with a quote from JKR:
The true deal of the day: Little, Brown has world English rights to the first novel for adults by JK Rowling, the company announced Thursday morning. Little Brown UK publisher David Shelley, Publisher will serve as Rowling's editor and Michael Pietsch will oversee publication in the US. All other details--title, pub date "and further details about the novel will be announced later in the year." Rowling says in the release: "Although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series, which has been published so brilliantly by Bloomsbury and my other publishers around the world. The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry's success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher. I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life."
Here we go - straight from the horse's mouth - the Pottermore Press Release
J.K. Rowling today, Thursday 23rd June, answered mounting speculation about the nature of her new project and announced Pottermore, a unique and free-to-use website which builds an exciting online experience around the reading of her hugely successful Harry Potter books, and is partnered by Sony.
The announcement today was heralded by the revealing of the website’s name via an online search for its letters, and a ‘coming soon’ holding page which received over a million visits within 36 hours of launching.
For this groundbreaking collaborative project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places and objects in the much-loved stories, which will inform, inspire and entertain readers as they journey through the storylines of the books. Pottermore will later incorporate an online shop where people can purchase exclusively the long-awaited Harry Potter eBooks, in partnership with J K Rowling’s publishers worldwide, and is ultimately intended to become an online reading experience, extending the relevance of Harry Potter to new generations of readers, while still appealing to existing fans. As the Pottermore Shop develops, it is intended that it should include further products designed specifically for Harry Potter fans, offering a potential outlet for Sony products and services related to Pottermore. In keeping with Harry Potter’s international appeal, the site will launch in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with more languages to follow.
In the new website, the storyline will be brought to life with sumptuous newly-commissioned illustrations and interactive ‘Moments’ through which you can navigate, starting with the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone. On entering, you choose a magic username and begin your experience. As you move through the chapters, you can read and share exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling, and, just as Harry joins Hogwarts, so can you. You visit Diagon Alley, get sorted into a house, cast spells and mix potions to help your house compete for the House Cup.
At a press conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Rowling revealed some key features of the website. In an announcement which will thrill fans, she described how she has brought to life both the Sorting Hat and Ollivanders experiences from her books for the first time on Pottermore, by revealing the questions asked by the Sorting Hat - which places newcomers into their Hogwarts houses according to their characteristics - and the magic behind the Wand Chooser – which finds the right wand for each user from over 33,000 possible combinations. She also revealed glimpses of the new information she has provided on some of the best-loved characters.
J.K. Rowling’s announcement on YouTube and sony.com today revealed that Pottermore (along with the Pottermore Shop) will be open to all users in October 2011. From today, 23rd June, fans can submit their email addresses on Pottermore.com in order to be contacted by the site following the opening of registration on 31st July, Harry’s birthday. Also on that date, an online challenge will be launched, whereby the first million people to complete their registration will gain early entry into the website, and help put final touches to the experience.
J.K. Rowling commented,
“I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation. I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to shape Pottermore as I have. Just as I have contributed to the website, everyone else will be able to join in by submitting their own comments, drawings and other content in a safe and friendly environment – Pottermore has been designed as a place to share the stories with your friends as you journey through the site.”
Pottermore has been made possible with the support and partnership of Sony.
Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sony Corporation, commented:
“Sony's association with J.K. Rowling's Pottermore brings together one of the world’s most innovative brands with the most successful book series in history, in a pioneering partnership that will help shape the future of story-telling. We are proud to be a part of it, both at this momentous announcement, and as we collaborate on its development over the coming years.”
On Sony’s partnership of Pottermore, J.K. Rowling commented:
“As I think people know, I am very protective of Harry and have always been very selective with any new initiatives, but I am totally committed to making this partnership with Sony and this wonderful new website a success. There are many companies I could have worked with on this ultimate digital expression of Harry Potter’s universe, but it is Sony’s unique philosophy of creativity in harmony with technology that made them my first choice as main partner. The spirit behind Sony’s make.believe philosophy is one that rings true with Pottermore’s own values.”
The detailed creative execution has been led by TH_NK, a leading UK digital agency, under the supervision of J.K. Rowling and the Pottermore management team, in co-operation with Sony. J.K. Rowling’s publishers, Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the USA, as well as her international publishers worldwide, have been active supporters in the creation of pottermore.com and the Pottermore Shop. Warner Bros, the makers of the hugely successful Harry Potter film franchise, is also one of the partners who have worked to support the launch of Pottermore through a variety of marketing, promotional and other efforts, and will continue to collaborate as the project grows.
The storyline of the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will go live on the site in early 2012. The Pottermore Shop opens when the site opens to all in October, selling complete ranges of the eBooks and digital audiobooks in a selection of languages, exclusively.
Designed for fans of all ages, the website has been created with child safety in mind, employing best practice and compliance with internet codes of practice in the UK, Europe and USA, and elsewhere.
Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy. He lives with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley, who are mean to him and make him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. (Dudley, however, has two bedrooms, one to sleep in and one for all his toys and games.) Then Harry starts receiving mysterious letters and his life is changed forever. He is whisked away by a beetle-eyed giant of a man and enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The reason: Harry Potter is a wizard!
I read the first 2 books in the Harry Potter series around ten years ago, when we first moved to the UK. I hardly remember anything about them, but of course, I know all about Harry. He's become such an iconic character in children's fiction and is the darling of so many kids who grew up with him and who are now all young adults themselves.
I've always been a bit bemused by Harry Potter's success and I'll admit, it really put me off reading the rest of the books. When something gets that big and that scary with that many dedicated fans, it's both a good thing and a bad thing. I couldn't imagine loving it that much and it made me question my ability as a reader, not even a reviewer! What was I missing?
So, when I spied these gorgeous new covers, I threw caution to the wind and succumbed. I sat down with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and read it from cover to cover and was smitten by a small skinny untidy haired boy with glasses and the ability to get into all sorts of trouble.
And I'll admit that although JK Rowling's writing is good, it is not awe inspiring but it is incredibly engaging and she really hits those beats that makes you want to read more and faster in order to find out what's going on. She uses a lot of archetypes in Philosopher's Stone and there are big elements of the fairy tale about it, but honestly, you can say the same thing about Star Wars and that is a perennial classic that just won't lie down and die.
What I loved about Philosopher's Stone is how the three characters of Ron and Hermione came together to form a small band of friends. There was the initial bickering between then all and also the annoyingness of Hermione being such a goody goody but it works out really well - when Hermione grows up enough to put her friends first and her studies and tutors later, we see her character growing right before our eyes.
Harry's growth is a lot more subtle even though he is by far the main focus of the story. JKR really works quietly in the background and before we know it, Harry has somehow managed to transform from a shy boy, used to being degraded by his adopted family, into a young boy who has such belief in himself and his friends, that he is prepared to take on a variety of monsters to protect them all.
If, like me, you've been cautious about approaching the Harry Potter books, I can't recommend this, the first book enough. It is far better than a) I remember it being and b) expected it to be.
Philosopher's Stone, really lays the groundwork of Harry, Ron and Hermione's friendship. Harry learns much about wizzarding, and how completely different things are to what he knew before as a normal human being. He finds out about his mum and dad and realises how much the Dursley's have kept from him. But then he also finds a new family, his friends at Hogwarts. It introduces us to Hogwarts and to Hagrid who I think is every single person's hero. I mentioned on twitter one dire day at the office that I am now ready for Hagrid to come whisk me away to Hogwarts and had around thirty replies from various friends saying that yes, can Hagrid and I swing by and collect them on the way?
And it also introduces us to the enigma of Voldemort, of course. I can't help but look forward to reading more because I feel I'd like to know more about what he'd done in the past and why exactly he is such a big enemy. Obviously I know, because I would have had to be a stone not to, but I want to find it out in JKR's words. I've not done a reading challenge on MFB before but I think this is definitely a worthy one and one I've enjoyed thus far. Next up to read is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I shall report back anon!
I ordered this a few months ago already and cannot wait for Mr. Postie to deliver it to my grasping little mitts.
It is JK Rowling's Collectors Edition of The Tales of Beedle The Bard from Amazon. Tucked in its own case disguised as a wizarding textbook found in the Hogwarts library, the Collector's Edition includes an exclusive reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction, as well as 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition or the original. Opening the case reveals a velvet bag embroidered with J.K. Rowling’s signature, in which sits the piece de resistance: your very own copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, complete with metal skull, corners, and clasp; replica gemstones; and emerald ribbon. As a special gift for fans, the Collector's edition also includes a set of 10 ready-for-framing prints of J.K. Rowling's illustrations, enclosed in a velvet-lined pocket in the lid of the outer case.
I am the world's biggest geek - ever. I will also be getting the standard edition, which will be the one I will read. I can only imagine how lovely the collectors edition will look on my shelf with my leatherbound journals and my large oversized boxed Sandman editions. Rubs hands in glee. I will take photos and post them once I receive it...maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday.
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