Pottermore? JK Rowling is up to something

[Eduardo]

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.

 

[23skidoo]

Ah, pass. I've read my good-old print collection of Potter 3 times now and have no interest in what is basically just an e-book scheme. (Funny, though, everyone i know who does use e-book readers seems to have full sets of Potter, so I'm not sure what's new about the books being released as e-books.)

Alex

 

[SiorX]

I think the site looks nifty, but probably aimed more at the Mugglenet crowd and young newbies.

I'm already getting a headache thinking about what Rowling's offically-unofficial-official backstories and facts are going to do to the idea of 'canon' in the HP fandom. You might think Star Wars and Trek fandom are bad for that, but it's a breeze compared to the canon wars in HP fandom, and this is going to exacerbate things hugely.

 

[Technobuilder]

This is kinda Riddikulus!

Treasure Hunt via coordinates to find out where to go online. (Beginning of June)
Then, wait a week for an announcement of what Pottermore is/will be. (June 22)
Then, wait til July 31st to find out how to get "in" early.
Then, wait til October because you won't be getting "in" early.

Online Viral Marketing seems to involve a lot of waiting for nothing to happen.

 

[Owain Taggart]

What happened to her writing some other fiction?

Guess she decides to go back to milking that Potter cashcow until it starts lactating blood.

She is writing other fiction. I find your attitude curious. I haven't read any of her books and only discovered the films last year but even I can see that the world she invented and the characters that populate it wasn't created without effort or talent. Just because her books are a global phenomenon doen't mean they must be contemptible, surely?

Yeah, no kidding. She was a mom struggling to make ends meet and happened to find a niche writing books that became enormously popular, so good on her. I highly respect her for that. I remember before Harry Potter came out, reading wasn't too popular an activity for kids due to all the TV and videogames out there, and her books revitalized that and got kids reading again, which is a great thing. It's a great thing to see new generations be excited about reading again. Not to mention that the books are good enough for adults to want to read, to the point of printing adult versions. How often does that happen? Not very. She's an example of people hating on her for being successful. She could be doing far worse, in my opinion. At least she had an end in sight, unlike some adult fantasy writers.

 

[Gaith]

Lame.

The only Potter we need more of is gals in Hogwarts outifits.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Guess she decides to go back to milking that Potter cashcow until it starts lactating blood.

She is writing other fiction. I find your attitude curious. I haven't read any of her books and only discovered the films last year but even I can see that the world she invented and the characters that populate it wasn't created without effort or talent. Just because her books are a global phenomenon doen't mean they must be contemptible, surely?

Yeah, no kidding. She was a mom struggling to make ends meet and happened to find a niche writing books that became enormously popular, so good on her. I highly respect her for that. I remember before Harry Potter came out, reading wasn't too popular an activity for kids due to all the TV and videogames out there, and her books revitalized that and got kids reading again, which is a great thing. It's a great thing to see new generations be excited about reading again. Not to mention that the books are good enough for adults to want to read, to the point of printing adult versions. How often does that happen? Not very. She's an example of people hating on her for being successful. She could be doing far worse, in my opinion. At least she had an end in sight, unlike some adult fantasy writers.

Yeah. The HP books are admittedly not my cup of tea, but I have read bits and pieces and I wouldn't claim there is a lack of quality in the writing or that the books are bad. Just because they're popular doesn't mean they inherently suck. I mean, this shit ain't Twilight, which genuinely is contemptible on its own merits.

She's a good writer who put out a series that got both adults and kids reading, and leveraged it into a substantial media empire. Sounds good to me, even if it's not really my thing.

 

[Technobuilder]

Agreed.

If you were bashing Stephanie Meyer as a hack writer, then I'm all aboard, but JK Rowling is a talented writer who just experienced a disproportionate amount of initial success.

 

[Sindatur]

Agreed.

If you were bashing Stephanie Meyer as a hack writer, then I'm all aboard, but JK Rowling is a talented writer who just experienced a disproportionate amount of initial success.

Yea, she doesn't use $1000 words, like STephen R Donaldson, but, she does build a story and plant foreshadowing well.