JK Rowling - An Author of Class

This morning, JK Rowling opened her YouTube doors and made her long-anticipated announcement sure to touch the heart of her avid readers.  What fans had been speculating about for days was revealed to be an online literary site for further Harry Potter story exploration.  It will be a place where author meets reader and the two can create as one.

While some commentators in the lead-to of this big announcement criticized JK Rowling for appearing to commercialize her successful series for further astronomical profit, the reality ended up being far different.

'I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation."

"This is free,” added JKR, “you don’t have to buy a single thing. That was really important to me. This was about the ‘give-back’.”

In Pottermore, fans will be able to read the backstory that JK Rowling has hoarded for years.  They'll have an official sanctuary to share their own Potter fanart and fanfiction.  They'll be able to not only chat with each other as they have done for years on fansites, but to somehow interact with the author herself.  Jo says that she'd already written a large amount of the new material which she'll share with her readers on the site, but there will be more to come.  And readers can actively engage in helping to shape the new story that will be Pottermore.

"The experience of reading requires that the imaginations of the author & reader work together to create the story."

"I wanted to pull it back to the reading, to the literary and story experience."

Jo -- for once again showing us how important story is to the world, for actively engaging our imagination yet again, for giving to your loyal fans all their hearts have longed for for years, and for doing it all with dignity and class (even your trademarked slyness :-) -- thank you!