The eight and final Harry Potter film has premiered and apparently there won´t be any more Potter books. So, has the Harry Potter saga come to an end?
Naturally there will be more Potter, or Pottermore, to be exact. J.K Rowling announced the website pottermore.com this summer, and July 31st 2011 the site opened for registration. I tried to be an early bird (owl, I suppose), and registered through some intricate channels including a riddle that I had to google for the answer to. I am no Harry Potter reader, so my interest in the subject is mostly professional.
Professionally speaking, however, the Harry Potter phenomenon is thrilling. This is perhaps the biggest commercial success in media history. The Atlantic calls Rowling's Harry Potter series "a unique commodity in the modern book trade". The success cuts across national borders, genres and formats. A generation of readers grew up alongside Harry & co. There really was no way that it could end after 13 years, seven books, eight films, computer games and a host of toys and memorabilia. The brand must go on.
What it is
So what is Pottermore? I´m not entirely sure. The launch of the site was preceded by a stylish youtube video featuring JKR in a chesterfield couch, boasting of "an online reading experience unlike any other". The site is free for access, and reader participation seems to be a key point. "Pottermore will be built, in part, by you, the reader", JKR announces. "The digital generation will be able to enjoy a safe, unique online reading experince built around the Harry Potter books", she says.
Although I registered and was given a wizardlike like username of sorts, I have not been able to access any content yet. Some aspects of the content are yet to be revealed, but there seems to be a multiplayer game-like experience built around the Potter universe, puzzles and quizzes, and also lots of background info that the author left out, perhaps in the form of an online encyclopedia. Last but not least, the site will from October on, for the first time, offer digital audiobooks and ebooks. And Rowling promises that the ebooks will be available for all reading devices!
JKR has been holding back on ebook offerings for an astonishingly long time now, and it could be suspected - based on earlier statements made - that this was out of technology caution, fear of piracy or nostalgia for the printed book. I think not. I hold with Austin Allen of the Big Think blog:
"But somehow I suspect that J. K. Rowling bows to no one and nothing, not even the wizardry of modern technology. I think she’s a tremendously savvy woman, and I think she and the franchise she’s created have timed this business move very precisely". Equally impressed by her "marketing genious" is the Guardian and the Atlantic. In any case, the timing of the launch of Pottermore seems too calculated to be the outcome of some accidental strategy ("It was time to give something back", as the video says). Close on the heels of the final film, and in keeping with the global ebook trend, Pottermore comes at a good time.
Pottermore and the book industry
So what is the impact of Pottermore? Will it change the face of modern publishing? No, it's not a game changer, says Rachel Deahl of Publisher's Weekly. "Pottermore could shake up digital publishing in three ways, says Laura Hazard Owen of paidcontent.org.
Naturally, it is early to predicate the exact implications of the Pottermore extension of the Harry Potter brand. I think we need to divide the issue into smaller parts, asking about the artistic impact, the commercial impact and the implications on publishing business power relations.
We do not know much about the artistic innovations that may be hidden on the servers of pottermore.com, but I'm quite sure that it will earn JKR a lot more dollars, pounds and kroner. As for the power aspect, that can become quite interesting to see unfold. It involves a possible shake-up of the relationship between publishers, retailers, digital resellers and tech providers, authors, agents and readers.
The Pottermore venture sidesteps both traditional publishers and retailers. Although publishers Bloomsbury (UK) and Scholastic (US) are involved and will receive a cut of sales, the dominant partner is Sony. Even the digitally empowered Amazon and Apple are pushed aside by the magic wand. If the ebooks are actually available for all reading devices that means JKR has found a way to end or circumvent the format "war" that marks digital publishing today (Epub/AZV/PDF & Flash/HTML5). Interestingly, the rights holders for the Harry Potter films and games, Warner Bros., holds no stake in Pottermore. Furthermore, JKR actually changed publishing agency in front of the digital launch, parting ways with longtime agent Christopher Little.
As for the fans and readers, they seem to be getting both more content on their hands and a platform from which to discuss Harry, but perhaps at the expense of getting caught in JKR's commercial web? Potter fans are an resourceful and creative bunch that have previously been in legal disputes with JKR and her lawyers. How will they cope with assimilated social networking on pottermore.com?
Finally, there's the authors: Wired has likened the strategy to Radiohead´s self-release of In Rainbows, emphasizing the disintermediation of middleman publishers. However, as the analogy with Radiohead indicates, this is not a strategy for everyone. Rowling is quite aware, as she stated in a press conference:
"I am lucky to have the resources to do it myself and I think this is a fantastic and unique experience that I could afford to take my time over to make this come alive. There was really no way to do it for the fans or me than just do it myself. Not every author could do this, but it's right for Harry Potter. It is so much fun to have direct content with my fans. It was an extension of the existing jkrowling.com."
This aspect leaves it somewhat difficult to make longterm predictions on the book industry based on JKR and Pottermore. Exactly how many authors of her commercial calibre are there? Nonetheless, if this venture were to shake the industry profoundly, it could later pave the way for other single-author initiatives taking advantage of weakened publishers and retailers. Perhaps a Jo Nesbø or a Stieg Larsson publishing company (The Scandicrime Consortium)? Stephenie Meyer's twilighter.com?
To be continued.
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