JK Rowling announced yesterday that she has signed a contract with a new publisher to produce a new novel. Unlike the Harry Potter books, which were meant for children (but which were also quite popular with adults), the new JK Rowling book will be a book for adults. The author has given no indication about the content or theme of the book, and most observers expect it to be unrelated to the world of Harry Potter. Still, for fans, this is BIG news!
The way we see it is, many of JK Rowling’s fans have grown up alongside Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and they are now young adults. They are entirely ready to see what JK Rowling will do with an adult novel! The book is bound to be a huge seller, just on name recognition and the Harry Potter connection alone. Of course, if it also turns out to be as readable as the HP books, then it will sell even more copies, and could even be the foundation of a new series.
When thinking of children’s book writers who later went on to publish an adult book, it can be seen that the literary landscape is littered with flops. Many writers such as A.A. Milne (author of Winnie the Pooh), never managed to achieve even a fraction of the success writing for adults that they had when writing for children. Of course, there are also plenty of exceptions. ‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer recently had a hit with “The Host”, a novel for adults, even if it wasn’t as successful as the Twilight series. The book did debut at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, so it can hardly be called a failure. Any beginning author would be overjoyed with such success.
So, what do you think? Will you buy the new J.K. Rowling book when it arrives? What do you think it will be about? Do you think it will relate in any way to the world of Harry Potter? Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while for answers to these questions, because a firm publication date has not been announced.
