How did J.K. Rowling pull it off?
- donaldzlotnik
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How did J.K. Rowling pull it off?
So how did she pull that off in a publishing industry that was declining and well known for being absolutely cutthroat? As a first time author, on welfare--a half million dollar advance would have made her ecstatic--yet!--she entered a contract that would not have been offered to Stephen King at that time--which netted her almost three billion dollars.
I've tried envisioning all of the hidden agendas from blackmail to bribery to sex and none of them would have landed her such a lucrative contract. Please note all of this wealth is from one series--her work since has barely made the publisher's list.
So how did she pull it off--who helped and guided her?
- Mollyrussell22
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It's like you read my mind, ryanj1! She had a truly great story on her hands and a publisher was intelligent enough to see it for what it was.ryanj1 wrote:Simple: publishers recognized the series for what it was; a potential phenomenon! And I don't think it's wrong to call it that: she bridged the gap between young readers and old and now it's known by cultural osmosis. Publishers wouldn't be very good if their noses weren't attuned to the sweet smell of fortune
@ Donald: JK Rowling's latest works may not be as popular, but that shouldn't take away from her success with the Harry Potter series. Perhaps we can just consider her a one-hit wonder.
- donaldzlotnik
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Point is, every author is different, and every publisher is different. As a mother on welfare myself, I would love to hear news like that, but JK Rowling had been an amazing writer since she was little, and certainly deserved the contract she got.
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Call me cynical but if J K Rowling were male would this topic have been created?
Now I have to admit I've never read the Harry Potter series other than reading a few chapters to my niece and nephew when they were little. But I have read all her books under the Robert Galbraith pseudoname and enjoyed all of them.
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Part of it is simply "the right book at the right time," and part of it is the fact that Joseph Campbell's "hero with a thousand faces" archetype is a proven way to make a hero that resonates with people. If Star Wars was about an intergalactic tea shop, it might still be a really good story, but I guarantee that it never would have become the . Like it or not, people generally enjoy "safe" stories that repeat similar themes with different characters and settings.
I'm not even a fan of HP (shock and horror!) and It's still very easy for me to see why Potter, Percy Jackson and other YA heroes got to be so massive.
- donaldzlotnik
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