Book Industry Reflecting on Life After Harry Potter

May 31, 2007

Posted by: SueTLC

Uncategorized

Despite all the recent good news about “The Wizard World of Harry Potter” Theme Park coming to Universal Studios in Florida, there is other news today about the books. As BookExpo America, a huge industry convention promoting new books and authors, starts today in New York City, publishers are reflecting on life after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsas the USA Today reports:

“I don’t know if we are ever going to see anything like Harry Potter again in children’s or even adult books,” says Paul Crichton of Simon & Schuster Children’s Books. “Harry will be missed like there is no tomorrow. But publishers have to forge ahead and move on. What Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling have done is incredible. To lose something that strong is going to have an impact.”

Scholastic, which is set to kick off the Knight Bus tour this weekend in New York will be attending the book fair, and while they will not be revealing new hints about the last Harry Potter book, the AP reports “those stopping by the Scholastic, Inc., booth will have to settle for Potter bags.” The anticipation for Deathly Hallows and Harry Potter has been important to the US publishers, as the question remains as to what happens next after the release of the last book.

During a Harry Potter year, sales of the book account for 8% of the company’s revenue, says Scholastic’s Lisa Holton.

Holton says the end of the series doesn’t mean the end of Harry Potter. She calls the books a “modern classic” that will join other children’s classics as perennial sellers.

Then there’s the question of what Rowling will do next. On her website, under Frequently Asked Questions, she writes: “I might do an eighth book for charity, a kind of encyclopedia of the world so that I could use all the extra material that’s not in the books … we’ll see!”

But in an e-mail, her agent, the Christopher Little Literary Agency, said Rowling’s quote was “posted on her website some years ago. … Ms. Rowling has not yet revealed what her next plans are.”





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.