Hey... when's the next Harry Potter book? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Poehlman]

Okay... I'm not a HP book fan, but my wife is. So, I'm not really on top of where the series is at and, it seems I got confused when I thought I read somewhere that the next book was coming out on July 12th. I was all excited to surprise my wife with a copy.

I should've known I was wrong when there was no footage on the news of people waiting in line in wizard costumes in front of the local Borders.

So, off to the internet I go and I did manage to find out that the next book will be titled "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". But, do any of you hardcore HP fans know when it will be out?

 

[Malcolm R]

Nope. After flash-publishing the first four books in four years, JK Rowling seems to have settled in at a snail's pace for the remaining three.

Soon she'll be holding up filming of the movies. The fourth is in production now, so they only have one more book to film until Warner Bros. will be playing the waiting game with the rest of us.

The actors will be married with children of their own before she births the final book.

 

[Al.Anderson]

The release date for the 6th book is not known yet. (My whole family loves them, including me.) Here are two good sites for your wife to keep abreast of the all things HP. Wrap them up and give the links to her in lieu of the book.

The first is her personal site:
http://www.jkrowling.com/

This is a fan site, but very professionally run (no boards running off with trivial discussions. Oh wait ...)
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/

And Malcolm, you make it out like she's a slacker. YOU try writing five books in a row that make the best sellers list for both adults and kids. We'll give you bonus time, say 2 years each, ready - go!

 

[Malcolm R]

I may as well, since everyone else appears to be jumping on the bandwagon. While browsing at Borders this weekend, I was amazed at the number of new anthology series for young readers with supernatual or fantastical themes or characters:

His Dark Materials trilogy
Spiderwick Chronicles series
Charlie Bone series
Bartimaeus trilogy
A Series of Unfortunate Events series
Artemis Fowl series
etc.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Another good site for info is: www.mugglenet.com



I wouldn't worry about the actors becoming too old to play their roles: wasn't the entire cast of Beverly Hills 90210 in their 20s and 30s? Didn't Michael J. Fox make a career out of playing characters 10 years younger than himself?

 

[Al.Anderson]

On the contrary, number of copies sold indicates that people actually *want* to read the book. If she just filled the page no one would be care when the next book was due.

And all this is wasting valuable time anyway - you should have at least posted an outline of your best seller by now!

And don't forget Eregon ...

Okay, I'm starting now too.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

So the success of a book is based purely on the number of books "manufactured" rather than "creative" aspects that might make one wish to actually buy it?

 

[Malcolm R]

OK, I didn't realize I'd lapsed into Swahili, so let me clarify.

Once she submits her manuscript to the editor, her job as author is done. Yes, I know there is usually some press, marketing, touring, but whether that book sells 10 copies or 1 million copies has little bearing on the time available to her to continue writing the next book (unless she's operating the presses herself).

She wrote and published 4 books in 4 years, and supposedly had outlines for all the rest. Why are books 5,6,7 taking 2-4 years each? Lots of other authors publish annually, some multiple books a year. And many of those novels are based on unique ideas, not merely the continuation of the same story.

 

[David Williams]

Two words: child *and* husband

Don't forget that J.K. got married during the writing of the last book and was dating Dr. Husband before that. I'm sure that took a lot more of her time than back when she was just single with young'un.

I imagine her time for writing is exponentially smaller nowadays, hence the delay. Of course, like everyone else I wish the next dose of literary crack was coming out tomorrow. Let's hope that 6 doesn't take as long as 5.

*sigh* :frowning:

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Maybe she misplaced her D&D Monsterous Compendium and can't write about anymore magical creatures until she finds it?

And I thought the new book was supposed to be Harry Potter and the Balance of the Earth.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

I would guess a combination of burn-out and pressure induced stress. The series so so popular that she probably feels the need to make each book better than the previous, and she is taking her time to achieve that. If she were writing stand-alone books that are not part of a series, she could afford to write a bad one here or there without impacting the others. On the other hand, if book six sucked it would tarnish the entire series (in much the way that The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones did to Star Wars). Also, she was forced to make some sweeping last minute changes to Goblet of Fire, and the schedule was so tight that she was never happy with the final product. Now she wants the releases to be "quality" driven rather than "schedule" driven.

 

[Malcolm R]

Forced by who? It's her story.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

The publisher.

 

[Chris]

Sweeping changes in Goblet of Fire were due to a serious publisher f* up, though, in that early copies hit the streets in China, and the decision was made to make sure that the story wasn't ruined or outmanuevered by those with illegal copies.

Example: http://www.iselong.com/8/1348.htm

 

[Rob Willey]

Perhaps her output is undiminished -- writing longer books just takes longer.

Rob

 

[Luis Esp]

I've heard that next summer could tentatively the time frame for the release of the next book, but don't hold your breath.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Wrong, I'm afraid.

The reason for the slowing of pace can be very simply and directly be attributed to the American author who sued her for plagiarism. Rowling was utterly victorious when the case finally came to court (and I believe the American author was fined for bringing the case - anyone help me out here with the details?). However, in an interview she gave to The [London] Times she said that whilst the case was being prepared, every time she tried to write the case started to creep into her thoughts, and it deterred her from writing. Once the case was over, her writing picked up speed.

I think it's worth mentioning that writing a book is not as easy as a lot of people think it is. I've written seven textbooks (not counting new editions, extra bits for translations, etc) and I can promise you, it isn't just a matter of dashing off a couple of thousand words a day until it's done. Were it that simple we'd all be doing it. It takes time and perseverence.

I too would like the next book to come out, but I don't think you can blame JKR's 'slacking' for any delay. Overall, once you factor the trial-induced delay (hardly Ms R's fault) out of the calculation, her production rate is pretty reasonable.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

That makes about as much sense as criticizing Stanley Kubrick for taking 4-7 years per film while Woody Allen cranks out one per year. Not all artists are the same, nor can they be expected to work at the same rate.



Maybe JKR just wants to pace herself?

 

[James_Kiang]

I just started reading the series when Order of the Phoenix was released. I will pick up the 6th and 7th book as soon as they come out, and look forward to when that happens.

As many people have pointed out, there can be any number of reasons that there has been more delay between releases. Be glad she doesn't seem to be taking as long as Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin (two of the higher-profile fantasy authors out there, for those who may not know) - they typically take 2 years between books and Martin is now on like 4 years. As long as the quality is there, I don't mind waiting, and at this point Rowling is not nearing the limits of my patience .

In the meantime, let me offer a recommendation of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It isn't really for young kids IMO since it deals with some very mature themes, but is definitely worth a read. Another positive - it's already a complete series .

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I just read the contents of the URL, and I don't see what the difference is between that and the published versions. (or are there supposed to be differences at all?!?)

If so, what changes were made? Are they known, or have they been kept secret?

Moe.