New article on unprecedented security for Book 7

Time Magazine writers Lev Grossman and Andrea Sachs have posted a very interesting piece today entitled "Harry Potter and the Sinister Spoilers" about the security for Book 7. Have you ever wondered how exactly the manuscript for Deathly Hallows was sent from Jo to her editors? Who has read the book and what keeping the secret is like? Grossman closes with something to chew on:

But even if the spoilers were genuine, it wouldn't matter.

On this point, both hacker [Gabriel] and publisher share a key misunderstanding of what reading is all about. People read books for any number of reasons; finding out how the story ends is one among many and not even the most important. If it were otherwise, nobody would ever bother to read a book twice. Reading is about spending time with characters and entering a fictional world and playing with words and living through a story page by page. The idea that someone could ruin a novel by revealing its ending is like saying you could ruin the Mona Lisa by revealing that it's a picture of a woman with a center part. Spoilers are a myth: they don't spoil. No elaborate secrecy campaign is going to make Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows any better than it already is, and no website could possibly make it useless and boring.

Hmmm. On that note, I will say that this article contains no details about spoilers, alleged or otherwise. =) Thanks to Meann for the tip!

Beware NYT article on spoilers

In writing about fandom and spoilers, I believe that today's article on the New York Times "Defenders of Secrets, Unite!" is too explicit, and may detail a spoiler itself. The writer basically interviews the heads of the major news fansites and authors of commentary books about how they feel about spoilers and how Book 7 might end, so if you keep up on the news at The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet there is nothing new here.

Later edit: If you are trying to stay spoiler-free (even the hoax ones), skip the Keith Olbermann video on MSNBC too.

No Spoiler Zone

Jo posted to her website diary today to reiterate her opinion on spoilers and the lowlifes who will be trying to ruin the surprises she has in store for us.

It may seem obvious that Accio Quote!, as a site that collects interviews of author J.K. Rowling, would not print spoilers. We're not really a news site, though we try to post new interviews as quickly as possible.

But I want to say here that Accio Quote! will not print anything about the plot specifics of Book 7 from unofficial sources, and if an official source slips up and blurts something out about the Giant Squid, we won't print that either -- until the book is out for a few days. Examples of official sources would be Jo herself, Arthur A. Levine, Stephen Fry, and Jim Dale, all people whom we are certain will be careful about what they say. We will also continue our policy of posting non-Jo interviews to this blog but not the main website.

And I implore you, please don't attempt to spoil me or other AQ staff by e-mail. We're fans too and we desperately don't want this moment ruined.