J.K. Rowling is one of the highest paid women in the world and one of the best-selling authors ever. The woman doesn't have to do any publicity for her books. But on June 17 she will give a midnight reading of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at Edinburgh Castle and have it followed by a press conference where aspiring children reporters can ask her questions.
She also called up fansites Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron and invited the two fans who run the sites to come to her house and interview her on the day of the release, which is one of the few she's doing.
I think it's really cool how Rowling has embraced her fans and is going out of her way to include them in the launch of her book. It's a lesson that more authors could learn from.
Article comments
1 - Nicolette Rivers
Not only is she a talented woman -- she is the embodiment of the success story which most every writer would wish to claim for his or her own.
I alway get the impression (in interviews) that she does not suffer fools gladly, and has a possibly witchy streak a mile wide. She is very Hermione that way.
A couple weeks ago the salesclerk at Borders asked me (hoping for a pre-order), "Do you like the Harry Potter books?" .... Yes. Know how I like them best of all? ..."How?"... In paperback.
2 - DrPat
I have to think that's why I have so little self-control in other parts of my life - I have spent it all, holding myself back from buying that newly-released hard-cover edition of {fill in book title here], waiting for the paperback release.
Confusion, the next volume of Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, is due out in June. Shadow of Saganami, Weber's next-phase entry in the Honor Harrington series, is not expected until (choke!) October. Flint's next Ring of Fire novel, 1634: The Galileo Affair, won't be in paperback until August.
No wonder I indulge myself with corn chips and salsa, popcorn and endless oranges peeled lovingly by my spouse. (And if I ever won the lottery, my winnings would vanish into the local bookstores, Amazon and out-of-print eBay bids!)
3 - Victor Plenty
The public library, DrPat. That's what saves me. Right now I am reading my local library's copy of The Confusion and loving every minute of it. Stephenson is a frickin' genius!
The only problem is, now that I've seen how beautifully made the hardcover editions of the Baroque Cycle novels are, I have to fend off the temptation to buy them anyway, "for future re-reading purposes."
Just a few days ago I finished up The Tide of Victory, the most recent novel in Eric Flint and David Drake's Belisarius series. Also courtesy of the library.