I am thrilled to announce that Finnish painter and children's book writer/illustrator Riikka Jäntti has completed her redesign of our site graphics! When I discovered her work over on the Harry Potter Lexicon and then saw her delightful book illustrations, I knew I wanted to hire her for Accio Quote. My high hopes have been exceeded. Thank you, Riikka! This is a dream come true.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
New Accio Quote artwork by Riikka Jäntti!
I am thrilled to announce that Finnish painter and children's book writer/illustrator Riikka Jäntti has completed her redesign of our site graphics! When I discovered her work over on the Harry Potter Lexicon and then saw her delightful book illustrations, I knew I wanted to hire her for Accio Quote. My high hopes have been exceeded. Thank you, Riikka! This is a dream come true.
NYT interviews Scholastic CEO
Rozhon, Tracie. "Saturday Interview: A Brief Walk Through Time at Scholastic" New York Times, 21 April 2007
Wandering through the headquarters of Scholastic in Manhattan is like taking a trip back through time and childish dreams, to a fantastical kindergarten with brightly colored columns and desk dividers and, at the very end, a huge playroom filled with toys like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Goosebumps and Captain Underpants and, of course, J. K. Rowling’s books about Harry Potter and his comrades.
The playroom, actually the company’s conference room, was the site of an interview with Richard Robinson, 69, only the second chief executive the company has had in its 86-year history; the first was his father.
Now chairman and chief executive of a $2.2 billion company, Mr. Robinson began by stressing that the Harry Potter book revenue makes up a small part of the company’s total and he intimated that there could be another best-selling series to come — from the same author.
Following are excerpts of the conversation, which ranged from using new technology to teach reading, to India and China, and back to you know who, Harry Potter:
Q. So where is Scholastic bound after the last Harry Potter book? Can we believe it’s the last book?
A. We can believe this is the last book on Harry Potter. We look at Harry Potter as a wonderful icing on top of the cake, but we are essentially a children’s book and media company, with our own distribution network and book clubs. There’s no question that Harry Potter gave us a big boost. It brought us name recognition, but Harry Potter never exceeded 8 percent of our total revenue.
Q. How did you get Harry Potter in the first place — it was first published in England, wasn’t it?
A. She had written her first book, and it was published in England. She then went through the English version of the Yellow Pages and looked for an agent. She says she just liked the name Christopher Little — she’s a whimsical character — and he directed the auction for rights outside the U.K. We spotted the book — Arthur Levine, an editor here, did — and we bid $105,000, which was quite a bit for an unknown author.
Q. Unknown?
A. Yes, at the beginning, people didn’t know what they had. The first story had been simple. It wasn’t until the second book that there was a groundswell.
Q. Going back to our first question, I noticed you emphasized the words Harry Potter when you said Ms. Rowling’s last book on Harry Potter. Do you have a first option on any other series she might be doing?
A. No, but we refer to ourselves as her U.S. publisher and she’s very loyal to us and we’re very loyal to her. We’ll keep working together. It’s less likely we won’t get it. It’s more likely it won’t be another Harry Potter.
Q. The company your father founded is now 86 years old. Have you seen a lessening of interest in reading among children, with the Internet and all the new technologies?
A. NAPE [National Assessment of Educational Progress] statistics will tell you there has been some reduction in reading skill. But there were always a lot of people who didn’t read much. Q. So what are you doing in places like China and India?
A. We are reaching out. We’re a global company in 65 countries, and offices in 15 of them, including China, India and Southeast Asia. There is a different situation there, with a growing middle class with dedicated parents driving their kids to achieve, and the kids are desperate to learn and to succeed. It’s that group we’re focusing on in Asia. Our pricing there is quite low; they don’t pay $5 for a book, they might pay $1 or $2.
Q. Are they abridged, then?
A. No, they’re the American classics, with some Indian literature that is written and developed there — they just might not be on the same type of paper. In developing literacy, we work with all the agencies we can find. In India, people already read English. In China, they want to learn English. The books are in English.
Q. So you’re not bewailing the fact that kids are not reading as well, or as much, as they used to?
A. No, not really. If you look at the deep research, you’ll see that technology can help kids learn to read. After all, to get stuff off the search engines, you have to be able to read. I see this as a 20-year process that began maybe five years ago. We’ll see more about the impact of technology and the interaction between graphics and words. After all, if we think of reading as visualizing in your mind, there could easily be a rebirth of intellectual activity, whether you call it “reading” or not, and I would.
Q. So you’re optimistic?
A. We’ve struggled with what I’d call words on a printed page, and with all the new technologies. I would say Scholastic is at the forefront of those new technologies.
Q. Getting back to Harry Potter, when is the last book coming out?”
A. Well, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” comes out on July 21st. We think slightly more copies than the preceding ones, which have gone up every time.
We think that there are some people who have read one, two and three, but not read four, five and six — they got darker and more complicated — but who will want to see how it ends.
Q. Yes, speaking of how it ends, we’ve heard that two people get killed. Can you say who they are? And people also want to know if Harry and Hermione finally, er, get together in the end?
A. (Laughs) I don’t even know. Really. There’s a small number who read the book. I don’t. I’m sure she thinks of the ending of Charles Dickens’s Little Nell, when people were waiting at the boat docks for the last sequel — to see if Little Nell was going to die. You know, one of the great things is getting people to imagine what’s going to happen: my 10-year-old has an absolutely brilliant interpretation. We’re starting a campaign for teachers to use in classrooms: seven questions, including who lives and who dies. Many people, including world-famous authors, are trying to figure out how it will end.
Q. Then, of course, there’s the movie that’s coming out in December, “The Golden Compass,” with some big stars.
A. Well, you know, being part of the movie business isn’t new for us. A lot of movies are made from books we sell, so if you have a property — like “The Big Red Dog” or “The Magic Bus” or “Goosebumps” — you can create a television show or a movie.
Q. How is that end of the business doing?
A. It gets harder to create new TV shows.
Q. Why?
A. It’s harder to create television hits because of all the cable channels. It’s becoming more fragmented. We work closely with PBS — it used to be a national network that reached everybody. Although there’s Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, it’s still a small percentage. We are working with studios to develop properties, without putting any money into it. They put up the money, but we put in a lot of work; it’s a wonderful partnership.
Q. What about “The Golden Compass?”
A. You may not be familiar with “The Golden Compass” series, but it rivals Harry Potter in England. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman are in it, yes, but the star will be the child: an 11-year-old tiny thing, she’s getting big! She and the polar bear are the true heroes. It’s an epic trilogy, and it was written before Harry Potter. A good and evil story, very imaginative, very metaphorical.
Q. The movie may make the books sell better. Are you the publisher?
A. I hope it does. We publish them in England, Random House publishes them in the United States.
Q. Moving to the business side, why did the stock dip so precipitously near the end of March? It’s recovered somewhat but is still less than it was.
A. (Nods) One of our businesses: the continuity business. That delivers children’s books like the Book of the Month Club does, every four weeks. We’ve changed the business to switch it to the Web and reduced the size. As we switched over to the Web, we decided to take a more conservative view, and we decided to write off promotional costs, and the Street took a slightly dim view of our actions.
Q. How do you view Scholastic’s stock price, which is now $31.98?
A. We went public in the late ’60s and we went private in the mid-’80s. We were out for five years and then we went back to the public markets in ’92. The stock has gone up and down, to keep pace with what’s going on, you have to change your methods of communication, move more to the Web. We partner with teachers to make their classrooms more interesting, and we’ve moved a lot of selling over to the Web.
Q. You said you have a large book club business. How has the Web affected that?
A. Half of the book club orders are Web based.
Q. How is Scholastic’s business divided up?
A. Children’s books, which includes the book clubs, makes up 60 percent. Education — materials sold to schools — makes up 20 percent. The rest is our international business.
Q. Still, the 8 percent for Harry Potter is a significant part of the business.
A. Yes, nothing will be like Harry Potter, but Goosebumps sold as many copies — it’s just that they’re paperbacks, so they’re a much lower price. They’re fun and scary and people love them — they’re a big seller in China: 300 or 400 million copies! But they’re lots of other things that could be phenomena. At Scholastic, we are constantly trying to create such things.
Wandering through the headquarters of Scholastic in Manhattan is like taking a trip back through time and childish dreams, to a fantastical kindergarten with brightly colored columns and desk dividers and, at the very end, a huge playroom filled with toys like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Goosebumps and Captain Underpants and, of course, J. K. Rowling’s books about Harry Potter and his comrades.
The playroom, actually the company’s conference room, was the site of an interview with Richard Robinson, 69, only the second chief executive the company has had in its 86-year history; the first was his father.
Now chairman and chief executive of a $2.2 billion company, Mr. Robinson began by stressing that the Harry Potter book revenue makes up a small part of the company’s total and he intimated that there could be another best-selling series to come — from the same author.
Following are excerpts of the conversation, which ranged from using new technology to teach reading, to India and China, and back to you know who, Harry Potter:
Q. So where is Scholastic bound after the last Harry Potter book? Can we believe it’s the last book?
A. We can believe this is the last book on Harry Potter. We look at Harry Potter as a wonderful icing on top of the cake, but we are essentially a children’s book and media company, with our own distribution network and book clubs. There’s no question that Harry Potter gave us a big boost. It brought us name recognition, but Harry Potter never exceeded 8 percent of our total revenue.
Q. How did you get Harry Potter in the first place — it was first published in England, wasn’t it?
A. She had written her first book, and it was published in England. She then went through the English version of the Yellow Pages and looked for an agent. She says she just liked the name Christopher Little — she’s a whimsical character — and he directed the auction for rights outside the U.K. We spotted the book — Arthur Levine, an editor here, did — and we bid $105,000, which was quite a bit for an unknown author.
Q. Unknown?
A. Yes, at the beginning, people didn’t know what they had. The first story had been simple. It wasn’t until the second book that there was a groundswell.
Q. Going back to our first question, I noticed you emphasized the words Harry Potter when you said Ms. Rowling’s last book on Harry Potter. Do you have a first option on any other series she might be doing?
A. No, but we refer to ourselves as her U.S. publisher and she’s very loyal to us and we’re very loyal to her. We’ll keep working together. It’s less likely we won’t get it. It’s more likely it won’t be another Harry Potter.
Q. The company your father founded is now 86 years old. Have you seen a lessening of interest in reading among children, with the Internet and all the new technologies?
A. NAPE [National Assessment of Educational Progress] statistics will tell you there has been some reduction in reading skill. But there were always a lot of people who didn’t read much. Q. So what are you doing in places like China and India?
A. We are reaching out. We’re a global company in 65 countries, and offices in 15 of them, including China, India and Southeast Asia. There is a different situation there, with a growing middle class with dedicated parents driving their kids to achieve, and the kids are desperate to learn and to succeed. It’s that group we’re focusing on in Asia. Our pricing there is quite low; they don’t pay $5 for a book, they might pay $1 or $2.
Q. Are they abridged, then?
A. No, they’re the American classics, with some Indian literature that is written and developed there — they just might not be on the same type of paper. In developing literacy, we work with all the agencies we can find. In India, people already read English. In China, they want to learn English. The books are in English.
Q. So you’re not bewailing the fact that kids are not reading as well, or as much, as they used to?
A. No, not really. If you look at the deep research, you’ll see that technology can help kids learn to read. After all, to get stuff off the search engines, you have to be able to read. I see this as a 20-year process that began maybe five years ago. We’ll see more about the impact of technology and the interaction between graphics and words. After all, if we think of reading as visualizing in your mind, there could easily be a rebirth of intellectual activity, whether you call it “reading” or not, and I would.
Q. So you’re optimistic?
A. We’ve struggled with what I’d call words on a printed page, and with all the new technologies. I would say Scholastic is at the forefront of those new technologies.
Q. Getting back to Harry Potter, when is the last book coming out?”
A. Well, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” comes out on July 21st. We think slightly more copies than the preceding ones, which have gone up every time.
We think that there are some people who have read one, two and three, but not read four, five and six — they got darker and more complicated — but who will want to see how it ends.
Q. Yes, speaking of how it ends, we’ve heard that two people get killed. Can you say who they are? And people also want to know if Harry and Hermione finally, er, get together in the end?
A. (Laughs) I don’t even know. Really. There’s a small number who read the book. I don’t. I’m sure she thinks of the ending of Charles Dickens’s Little Nell, when people were waiting at the boat docks for the last sequel — to see if Little Nell was going to die. You know, one of the great things is getting people to imagine what’s going to happen: my 10-year-old has an absolutely brilliant interpretation. We’re starting a campaign for teachers to use in classrooms: seven questions, including who lives and who dies. Many people, including world-famous authors, are trying to figure out how it will end.
Q. Then, of course, there’s the movie that’s coming out in December, “The Golden Compass,” with some big stars.
A. Well, you know, being part of the movie business isn’t new for us. A lot of movies are made from books we sell, so if you have a property — like “The Big Red Dog” or “The Magic Bus” or “Goosebumps” — you can create a television show or a movie.
Q. How is that end of the business doing?
A. It gets harder to create new TV shows.
Q. Why?
A. It’s harder to create television hits because of all the cable channels. It’s becoming more fragmented. We work closely with PBS — it used to be a national network that reached everybody. Although there’s Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, it’s still a small percentage. We are working with studios to develop properties, without putting any money into it. They put up the money, but we put in a lot of work; it’s a wonderful partnership.
Q. What about “The Golden Compass?”
A. You may not be familiar with “The Golden Compass” series, but it rivals Harry Potter in England. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman are in it, yes, but the star will be the child: an 11-year-old tiny thing, she’s getting big! She and the polar bear are the true heroes. It’s an epic trilogy, and it was written before Harry Potter. A good and evil story, very imaginative, very metaphorical.
Q. The movie may make the books sell better. Are you the publisher?
A. I hope it does. We publish them in England, Random House publishes them in the United States.
Q. Moving to the business side, why did the stock dip so precipitously near the end of March? It’s recovered somewhat but is still less than it was.
A. (Nods) One of our businesses: the continuity business. That delivers children’s books like the Book of the Month Club does, every four weeks. We’ve changed the business to switch it to the Web and reduced the size. As we switched over to the Web, we decided to take a more conservative view, and we decided to write off promotional costs, and the Street took a slightly dim view of our actions.
Q. How do you view Scholastic’s stock price, which is now $31.98?
A. We went public in the late ’60s and we went private in the mid-’80s. We were out for five years and then we went back to the public markets in ’92. The stock has gone up and down, to keep pace with what’s going on, you have to change your methods of communication, move more to the Web. We partner with teachers to make their classrooms more interesting, and we’ve moved a lot of selling over to the Web.
Q. You said you have a large book club business. How has the Web affected that?
A. Half of the book club orders are Web based.
Q. How is Scholastic’s business divided up?
A. Children’s books, which includes the book clubs, makes up 60 percent. Education — materials sold to schools — makes up 20 percent. The rest is our international business.
Q. Still, the 8 percent for Harry Potter is a significant part of the business.
A. Yes, nothing will be like Harry Potter, but Goosebumps sold as many copies — it’s just that they’re paperbacks, so they’re a much lower price. They’re fun and scary and people love them — they’re a big seller in China: 300 or 400 million copies! But they’re lots of other things that could be phenomena. At Scholastic, we are constantly trying to create such things.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
New artwork coming!
Artist Riikka Jäntti just sent me nearly 40 banners and buttons for Accio Quote, so soon we will have gorgeous, professional new artwork!Riikka doesn't have a website, but there is a mini-gallery of her work over at the Harry Potter Lexicon.
Deathly Hallows = cemetery amphitheater?
I recently visited Arlington, Virginia, where I attended the Computers in Libraries conference for librarian-geeks. Great conference, but there wasn't much time to visit museums and such. Two of us had military connections (my husband was an Army officer), so we took the time to visit the National Cemetery nearby. It was somber and sad and beautiful, as the hillsides were dotted with cherry blossom trees in full bloom. We made a pilgrimage to John F. Kennedy's grave and to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.I got goosebumps when I entered the Memorial Amphitheater that lies behind the Tomb and I couldn't tell my friends why because they would have thought I was being disrespectful: I was looking at what must have been the model for Mary GrandPré's artwork on the cover of Deathly Hallows.
Here's a photo of the inside: an open air colonnade with a central area where people can watch a ceremony (no curtains). It all fits perfectly with Mary GrandPré's cover art and what fans have discovered about the funerary purpose of a Hallows.It is pretty difficult for anyone in Europe to not be aware of war memorials, but Jo has told us herself that she has visited them:
"I’ve always ‘collected’ – that’s to say, remembered - unusual names and finally found a use for them! I love names; sad to say, I really enjoy reading lists of them, for me it’s like casting an eye over a pile of unwrapped presents, each of the names representing a whole person. War memorials, telephone directories, shop fronts, saints, villains, baby-naming books – you name it, I’ve got names from it!" (jkrowling.com FAQs)Here's another quote:
I collect unusual names. I have notebooks full of them. Some of the names I made up, like Quidditch, Malfoy. Other names mean something -- Dumbledore, which means "bumblebee" in Old English ... seemed to suit the headmaster, because one of his passions is music and I imagined him walking around humming to himself. And so far I have got names from saints, place-names, war memorials, gravestones. I just collect them -- I am so interested in names. (Barnes and Noble interview, 1999)So now I am wondering: did Mary GrandPré search for examples of "hallowed ground" as she was designing the cover for Book 7 and hit upon Arlington?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Another new staff member: Mary Ann
You've read her transcripts, now Mary Ann Ortiz (aka 'daydreamcharms' and 'Meann') is our newest staff member!
Mary Ann has been a Harry Potter fan since 2000 and is a regular visitor of the Floo Network websites. She co-administers a local fan club, Hogwarts Philippines, and is part of a research team for the producers of a Harry Potter podcast. She is also one of the organizers of the annual Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention.
Meann is a geodetic engineer and quality management engineer who lives in Manila, Philippines. She loves books, movies, transcripts, and land quidditch.
Mary Ann has been a Harry Potter fan since 2000 and is a regular visitor of the Floo Network websites. She co-administers a local fan club, Hogwarts Philippines, and is part of a research team for the producers of a Harry Potter podcast. She is also one of the organizers of the annual Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention.
Meann is a geodetic engineer and quality management engineer who lives in Manila, Philippines. She loves books, movies, transcripts, and land quidditch.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
New Leaky Interview with Michael Goldenberg
As I search the internet for new articles I often wonder: "How do I know someone didn't just make this up and post it?" So I try to corroborate the existence of the interview several different ways, unless my source is from an official news database or archive. I have gradually been adding "source" notes to the bottom of our interviews as the information is re-confirmed.
Fan reports of interviews are problematic too, unless there is a video to check against. For example, when the Owen Jones interview was finally transcribed I realized that one of the fan reports we had relied upon added a statement that wasn't broadcast (don't worry, it has been removed from our listings). I guess they couldn't resist editorializing.
So yesterday I read with dismay about the supposed interview of OotP screenwriter Michael Goldenberg that turned out to be wholly fabricated. Today Melissa from Leaky News has released a real interview of Goldenberg that sets the record straight. It's a good read.
By the way, I will not be archiving or indexing non-JKR interviews on Accio Quote! even if they have something juicy. However, I will be posting about them here on the blog.
Fan reports of interviews are problematic too, unless there is a video to check against. For example, when the Owen Jones interview was finally transcribed I realized that one of the fan reports we had relied upon added a statement that wasn't broadcast (don't worry, it has been removed from our listings). I guess they couldn't resist editorializing.
So yesterday I read with dismay about the supposed interview of OotP screenwriter Michael Goldenberg that turned out to be wholly fabricated. Today Melissa from Leaky News has released a real interview of Goldenberg that sets the record straight. It's a good read.
By the way, I will not be archiving or indexing non-JKR interviews on Accio Quote! even if they have something juicy. However, I will be posting about them here on the blog.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Transcript for Levine interview
Daydreamcharms has sent us the transcript for the Levine interview on the Today Show! Big thanks!
Transcript: Arthur A. Levine on the Today Show, 28th March 2007
Meredith Vieira: All of you Harry Potter fans, hold on to your Hogwarts Hats. If you've enjoyed reading the first 6 Harry Potter books from bestselling author J.K. Rowling, I'm betting you're counting down the days to the July 21st release of the 7th and final book in the series. It's called "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", and it will have a record-breaking first printing of 12 million copies here in the US. This morning, Arthur A. Levine, vice-president of Arthur A. Levine Books and the co-editor of the Harry Potter series is here to unveil the cover. Arthur, good morning to you.
Matt Lauer: Hey, Arthur!
Arthur Levine: Good morning. Nice to be here.
Lauer: You've brought these books over here so this is gonna be very exciting for you.
Levine: It is... you know it's exciting because I've been holding this secret now for months, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with other people and actually being able to talk about it
Vieira: I can't stand it. Can I just do this?
Levine: Yeah, sure
(Meredith reaches for the cloth covering the mock-up)
Lauer: Be careful cause she has a knack... she's a little... Meredith is accident-prone.
Vieira: Ta-daaa!
Lauer: So tell us about the artwork. What are we seeing here?
Vieira: It does not look good for him... for Harry.
Levine: We're seeing Harry in a very interesting situation, and readers will find out exactly what that situation is.
Vieira: We know somebody's gonna die, right?
Levine: We do know, we do know somebody's gonna die.
Lauer: On what page?
(All laugh)
Lauer: Let me show... that's the front cover, obviously, here's the entire jacket the way it plays out, it wraps around the whole book.
Vieira: It wraps around the book.
Lauer: What's happening here?
Levine: Well, I can't tell you exactly what's happening here. BUt that is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and it's the first time he's been shown on the jacket. And actually, it's interesting, cause we've made these extra long... the flaps, the part that's wrapped around the book are a little bit longer than usual, so you have more artwork than usual. It's very beautiful.
Lauer: Do you have... As the guy who brought it here, do you have mixed emotions about this series coming to an end?
Levine: Oh yeah, sure. I mean, when I was reading it, you know I had both the excitement and the power of the book, and the plot driving me forward. But I also was feeling a little sad. It's the last time...
Vieira: Did you cry?
Levine: I did. Sobbing... sobbing.
Vieira: That means that someone we like dies, doesn't it.
Levine: Well, it means that it's a very very emotional book.
Lauer: Just trivia-wise, how long does it take to print 12 million copies of the book?
Levine: It takes several weeks.
Lauer: Gosh.
Vieira: Wow.
Lauer: Congratulations in advance, and thank you. We can't wait to see it in July.
Levine: Thank you very much.
Vieira: Arthur Levine, thank you very much. Just a reminder, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will arrive at bookstores on July 21st.
Transcript: Arthur A. Levine on the Today Show, 28th March 2007
Meredith Vieira: All of you Harry Potter fans, hold on to your Hogwarts Hats. If you've enjoyed reading the first 6 Harry Potter books from bestselling author J.K. Rowling, I'm betting you're counting down the days to the July 21st release of the 7th and final book in the series. It's called "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", and it will have a record-breaking first printing of 12 million copies here in the US. This morning, Arthur A. Levine, vice-president of Arthur A. Levine Books and the co-editor of the Harry Potter series is here to unveil the cover. Arthur, good morning to you.
Matt Lauer: Hey, Arthur!
Arthur Levine: Good morning. Nice to be here.
Lauer: You've brought these books over here so this is gonna be very exciting for you.
Levine: It is... you know it's exciting because I've been holding this secret now for months, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with other people and actually being able to talk about it
Vieira: I can't stand it. Can I just do this?
Levine: Yeah, sure
(Meredith reaches for the cloth covering the mock-up)
Lauer: Be careful cause she has a knack... she's a little... Meredith is accident-prone.
Vieira: Ta-daaa!
Lauer: So tell us about the artwork. What are we seeing here?
Vieira: It does not look good for him... for Harry.
Levine: We're seeing Harry in a very interesting situation, and readers will find out exactly what that situation is.
Vieira: We know somebody's gonna die, right?
Levine: We do know, we do know somebody's gonna die.
Lauer: On what page?
(All laugh)
Lauer: Let me show... that's the front cover, obviously, here's the entire jacket the way it plays out, it wraps around the whole book.
Vieira: It wraps around the book.
Lauer: What's happening here?
Levine: Well, I can't tell you exactly what's happening here. BUt that is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and it's the first time he's been shown on the jacket. And actually, it's interesting, cause we've made these extra long... the flaps, the part that's wrapped around the book are a little bit longer than usual, so you have more artwork than usual. It's very beautiful.
Lauer: Do you have... As the guy who brought it here, do you have mixed emotions about this series coming to an end?
Levine: Oh yeah, sure. I mean, when I was reading it, you know I had both the excitement and the power of the book, and the plot driving me forward. But I also was feeling a little sad. It's the last time...
Vieira: Did you cry?
Levine: I did. Sobbing... sobbing.
Vieira: That means that someone we like dies, doesn't it.
Levine: Well, it means that it's a very very emotional book.
Lauer: Just trivia-wise, how long does it take to print 12 million copies of the book?
Levine: It takes several weeks.
Lauer: Gosh.
Vieira: Wow.
Lauer: Congratulations in advance, and thank you. We can't wait to see it in July.
Levine: Thank you very much.
Vieira: Arthur Levine, thank you very much. Just a reminder, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will arrive at bookstores on July 21st.
Cover art! Wheeee!
Thrilling, confounding, gorgeous cover art! Be sure you’re sitting down when you look. High-resolution artwork has been released today by Scholastic and Bloomsbury. [View the images at The Leaky Galleries]
The trio all seem to be having different reactions. Ron (wearing embroidered green robes) is focused off to the left and has his mouth open as if surprised or frightened. Hermione (wearing purple embroidered robes) is focused off to the right and seems to be screaming or shouting. Harry (wearing a plain black t-shirt or sweater) appears to be speaking, his hands are in a warding or conjuring gesture. His eyes are focused straight ahead and something bright is reflected in his glasses. Golden treasure is all around: coins, gemstones (all rubies), silvery armor (snake on front? gryphon?), glass flagons or vials, plates, goblets, a ewer, a helmet with a dragon and rubies on it, and possibly a Celtic torc. No one is holding a wand.
An oval gold locket laying on a background of dark stone. The locket has an engraved "S" that is studded with small cabochon green stones.
Scholastic edition
Harry and Voldemort are in a ruined arena (colosseum? amphitheater?) open to a fiery sunset sky, wearing brown robes with their hands outstretched. Tattered rust-colored curtains frame the picture on both sides, and quite a few people appear to be watching. Both Voldemort and Harry are gazing up at the same point off to the upper right. Their hands are outstretched; Voldemort looks like he is warding something off and Harry looks like he is calling it to him. Neither one has a wand. Broken and possibly burned wooden beams are in the foreground. Harry is wearing something around his neck (detail below).
Description from David Saylor, Scholastic's art director: “The front cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows features a dramatic sky of oranges and golds. It depicts 17-year-old Harry with arm outstretched, reaching upward. The structures around Harry show evident destruction and in the shadows behind him, we see outlines of other people. For the first time the cover is a wrap-around. On the back cover spidery hands are outstretched towards Harry. Only when the book is opened does one see a powerful image of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his glowing red eyes peering out from his hood.” (Scholastic press release)
Treasure! Patronus! Locket! Silver Hogwarts? Strange triangle/circle emblem! Veils? Hallows? We're trying not to hyperventilate.
The artist for the American editions is again Mary GrandPré, and the artist for the UK children’s edition is Jason Cockcroft.
We've included some AQ staffer commentary. You can see there is no one right answer!
Bloomsbury children's edition, images from left to right
Lisa: I think this is a vision in a crystal ball of Nagini. Who is looking into it? Whose ball is it?
Julia: Is it a hint that Nagini is indeed a Horcrux? Has Nagini been trapped in glass for some reason? By Harry, his friends or the Order? Is Harry having more visions? Does this lead into the Harry= Horcrux idea? Another prophesy? Does the zoo Boa make another appearance?2) Nighttime scene (full moon!) with a storm of some sort rolling in from the left. There is a castle with tree consistent with depictions of Hogwarts and the Whomping Willow, however the castle is either icy or silver, and the tree has no leaves. This is odd because the grass in front of the castle is green. All the windows are lit and a large doorway is open with warm yellow light shining through.
Lisa: I think Hogwarts is being attacked by Dementors and -- are those giants in the clouds? The full moon may mean that werewolves are about also.
Julia: Yet more proof that Hogwarts will feature in the final volume.3) Equilateral triangle that appears to be carved into marble. The triangle contains a circle; both are bisected vertically.
Lisa: This looks to me like an alchemical symbol, though I can't find any that are perfect matches. I think it is something Jo made up for some purpose. Is it a monogram? A symbol for a secret society? The entrance to the treasure room?4) Stone arch the frames the trio and quite a lot of treasure. Harry, Ron and Hermione seem to be either jumping through the arch or being sucked into it; Harry is almost completely horizontal. Harry has wounds showing through his torn clothing; Hermione also has wounds on her arms. On Harry's back is a small, pale creature with long fingernails and pointed ears holding a dagger with a ruby pommel.
Julia: "In essence divided"? Whatever it is, it is important just as the ring on the spine of HBP was important.
The trio all seem to be having different reactions. Ron (wearing embroidered green robes) is focused off to the left and has his mouth open as if surprised or frightened. Hermione (wearing purple embroidered robes) is focused off to the right and seems to be screaming or shouting. Harry (wearing a plain black t-shirt or sweater) appears to be speaking, his hands are in a warding or conjuring gesture. His eyes are focused straight ahead and something bright is reflected in his glasses. Golden treasure is all around: coins, gemstones (all rubies), silvery armor (snake on front? gryphon?), glass flagons or vials, plates, goblets, a ewer, a helmet with a dragon and rubies on it, and possibly a Celtic torc. No one is holding a wand.
Lisa: Due to all the rubies, I think this is mostly a Gryffindor treasure vault. I also think that Harry looks like he's seen something important and is casting a spell. Why the rich robes for Hermione and Ron? Has there been some sort of ceremony? Did they come here from a place that had cool robes they were trying on? And if that is Dobby on Harry's back, where are his clothes?5) Silvery stag consistent with descriptions of Harry's Patronus. It is lifting its head up and almost looks like it is smiling.
Julia: The location could be in a number of places: Gringotts, the Room of Requirement, at the house of some collector like Hepzibah Smith, the ministry (they must have a treasury), Mundungus's lair, a goblin armoury/workshop, trophy room in Hogwarts or Borgin and Burke's.
The red light in the arch may be fire, an explosion or curse, so it makes sense that the figures are diving away from it. Harry is definitely diving. Ron is also jumping away, somewhat awkwardly and Hermione is also diving a bit awkwardly. They don't have Harry's Quidditch reflexes, you see.
Dobby is clutching tightly to Harry, but the way he is holding the sword is like a call to arms, even though his eyes are squeezed tightly shut.
Clothing: Ron and Hermione have just been at some kind of party or formal occasion as the clothes they are wearing are rich in detail and like dress robes. This scene looks kinda climactic so I don't think is is immediately after Bill and Fleur's wedding. Harry is wearing plainer clothes but the right arm of his clothes looks a bit ornate or else badly worn. It's kinda blurred. They have just been in a fight.
Lisa: for me, this is a symbol of hope that Harry will survive.Bloomsbury adult edition
An oval gold locket laying on a background of dark stone. The locket has an engraved "S" that is studded with small cabochon green stones.
Julia: Last time (HBP) it was perplexing, but this time it is a real no-brainer. It shows Slytherin’s locket against a stone backdrop. The most perplexing thing about this is the backdrop as it may hint the location of the locket. I like the detail on the locket also. The emeralds make you think of the emeralds that were on the columns in the chamber of secrets, so it is definitely THE locket. What does the Adult UK cover tell us? The locket may mot be in any of the places that we have being speculating about
Lisa: Yes, I agree that it is definitely the Slytherin locket, although the stones look like turquoises to me. Something that seems odd to me is that if the Slytherin locket is the same locket found at 12 Grimmauld Place, why didn't Harry notice the big "S?" All we know about the Grimmauld locket is that it is heavy gold and that no one could open it.
Scholastic editionHarry and Voldemort are in a ruined arena (colosseum? amphitheater?) open to a fiery sunset sky, wearing brown robes with their hands outstretched. Tattered rust-colored curtains frame the picture on both sides, and quite a few people appear to be watching. Both Voldemort and Harry are gazing up at the same point off to the upper right. Their hands are outstretched; Voldemort looks like he is warding something off and Harry looks like he is calling it to him. Neither one has a wand. Broken and possibly burned wooden beams are in the foreground. Harry is wearing something around his neck (detail below).
Description from David Saylor, Scholastic's art director: “The front cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows features a dramatic sky of oranges and golds. It depicts 17-year-old Harry with arm outstretched, reaching upward. The structures around Harry show evident destruction and in the shadows behind him, we see outlines of other people. For the first time the cover is a wrap-around. On the back cover spidery hands are outstretched towards Harry. Only when the book is opened does one see a powerful image of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his glowing red eyes peering out from his hood.” (Scholastic press release)
Lisa: I think that the "Deathly Hallows" is a place and that this is what it looks like. Harry and Voldemort are being tested and are not fighting each other. I would really love to know how Grindelwald died. The shadows watching are shadows of the dead, like a ghostly Wizengamot. The rubble is there simply because it is an ancient building.
Julia: I like the way Mary GranPré has depicted Harry. It’s a vast improvement on her earlier covers, bar OOTP, which is my now my second favorite of the US editions. He looks more manly than he did on the HBP cover.
The curtains: Although Mary GranPré has used curtains as a motif on earlier covers (PS/SS, fittingly enough!), I think it means more here. This is the last book, so it is figuratively and literally showing the final curtain or close of the series. It may show beyond the veil (see explanation below). This impression is heightened by the colour scheme which is like a sunset but also like some representations of the afterlife.
The rubble: An indication that a battle has just taken place. The final battle? Or it may refer to the wreckage of some familiar building such as Godric’s Hollow or Hogwarts, which would bring the story full circle.
The structure in the background: It looks like the railway bridge that is often shown in the films but it also looks like an arena of the Colosseum in Rome. Its classical looking anyway - and old - there is a large fissure running down it on one side.
The two main figures: What is interesting, considering that it is Voldemort & Harry, is that it is not very confrontational. Neither is holding a wand and they are both facing towards something outside of the scene and not each other.
Harry: Harry is half facing Voldemort, but it is evident that he is showing Voldemort something. Harry has a very focused look, like he is concentrating a bit, but it is evident from his face and his gesture that he welcomes whatever it is that he is showing Voldemort.
Voldemort: Voldemort is almost exactly the reverse. He has his arms and hands outstretched too, but he seems to be almost backing away from whatever it is and he seems to be fending it from himself = logical conclusion, it is either love or death, or something associated with an afterlife such as the departed. After all, you only have to look at LV’s reaction to priori incantatem to know that he would not welcome the reappearance of those he has killed.
More light on the title?: If I am right, the Scholastic cover shows the Deathly Hallows = the afterlife. The vague other figures in the background could therefore be those that have already died. Or they could be a collective crowd of whatever remains of the Death Eaters and the Order – but that is a more prosaic idea.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Official transcript of Owen Jones interview!
AQ reader Joanne Hill has transcribed the Owen Jones interview that was televised by ITV in 2005! I have been busy correcting all the references to the previous, incomplete reports, because the quoted text is slightly different. Here is the adjusted list of canon summaries for the interview: - JKR: "Ravenclaw will have its day!" Jo makes this seem like it will be important.
- Wormtail won't kill Lupin.
- Jo is implying that Dumbledore had a hand in ending WWII when he defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald.
- She gave Harry a fortune as she was poor at the time and wanted him to have a lot. It was wishful thinking.
- Loves fan-theories. People have been very close to figuring out things.
- JKR: "Bits of the final book have been guessed."
- Ron is a character who would swear, but her editor won't let her use swear words.
- A Hogwarts graveyard will not play a role in the last book; it is something fans made up. [Ed: the source was actually Alfonso Cuarón]
- JKR: "When people have finished reading this book, they will really know what to expect in book seven. I think I give very clear pointers to what Harry will do next."
- JKR: "The final chapter, as I've always said, really relates to what happens to the people who survive the story, after the end of the story. And I have made small tweaks to it over the intervening years. And I'll have to rewrite it when I get there."
Note: I have also removed something that Jo was reported to have said because it was *not* in the interview. Although it really sounds like her, she apparently did NOT say: "There is plenty to guess at... at least one thing I think people will probably deduce, there is a mystery left at the end, but I think they might already know the answer if they think about it."
Thank you for the transcript Joanne, you have advanced our knowledge of canon! And thanks too to Owen. You asked some really great questions.
Do you have an interview treasure hidden in a box? Check out our "fan challenge" list of interviews we're still searching for.Saturday, March 24, 2007
Snapshot of what early fandom was like
There is something about the first-hand accounts of Jo's book tours that makes me misty-eyed, and an article I just added to the archive is a perfect illustration of this.
Perhaps because I am the veteran of many author visits; perhaps because one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't chuck my graduate school work in 1999 and fly to San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe (where I used to work) and stand in line to meet Jo. You see, I was confident that she'd tour again.
Anyway, Ted Brock's November 1999 article for the Modesto Bee is a delightful read -- it captures perfectly those early days of fandom.
Perhaps because I am the veteran of many author visits; perhaps because one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't chuck my graduate school work in 1999 and fly to San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe (where I used to work) and stand in line to meet Jo. You see, I was confident that she'd tour again.
Anyway, Ted Brock's November 1999 article for the Modesto Bee is a delightful read -- it captures perfectly those early days of fandom.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
What would you ask?
Julia recently asked me what I would ask Jo's editors about Book 7 if I had a chance (no, it's not likely).
Hmmm. Would I try to wheedle something out of them?
I decided I would ask what they loved about it and did they find the ending satisfying. That's what's important to me.
It surprised me to discover this. I used to theorize a lot over on HPANA, but I have realized that I don't want to figure it out, I just want it to be enjoyable and feel "right." I want to have moments again where I ask myself "how did she think of that?" and times when I get that shock of recognition of something she is lampooning or just the funny details she adds. In Book 1 it was the list of things Harry needed for Hogwarts that hooked me. And in Book 3 the smart-aleck mirror. I want more moments like those before the series ends. Lots more moments like those.
What would you ask?
Hmmm. Would I try to wheedle something out of them?
I decided I would ask what they loved about it and did they find the ending satisfying. That's what's important to me.
It surprised me to discover this. I used to theorize a lot over on HPANA, but I have realized that I don't want to figure it out, I just want it to be enjoyable and feel "right." I want to have moments again where I ask myself "how did she think of that?" and times when I get that shock of recognition of something she is lampooning or just the funny details she adds. In Book 1 it was the list of things Harry needed for Hogwarts that hooked me. And in Book 3 the smart-aleck mirror. I want more moments like those before the series ends. Lots more moments like those.
What would you ask?
Julia Crimmins joins the staff
Julia Crimmins (aka 'Jules') has joined Accio Quote! She been a long time fan of both the Lexicon and Accio Quote and its predecessors, Madam Scoop and QQQ and has been submitting articles and transcripts to AQ for some time now. She has just send in a bunch of articles from Irish press that I am working on, and her future plans include compiling a gallery of J K Rowling's drawings. Julia is an historic buildings consultant who lives in Dublin, Ireland. She enjoys reading, cinema and indie bands. Welcome, Julia!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Deathly Hallows Page Count!
Scholastic made their official announcement today about the page count for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: it will be 784 pages, which makes it the second largest book in the series. (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is 870 pages.)
Our new Accio Quote! staffer Jules dug up this quote from Jo's website which is quite apropos of the moment:
Our new Accio Quote! staffer Jules dug up this quote from Jo's website which is quite apropos of the moment:
FEBRUARY 28th 2006Jules and I say "Thanks for the extra chapters Jo!"
'This always happens. I make a plan, it looks nice and neat, then I get to actually write the book and realise that Harry can't possibly do all that in just one chapter. So what I thought were going to be two chapters have now become four. I still don't think the book [Book 7] will be as long as 'Phoenix', but if that keeps happening... no, it won't. I'm looking at the plan, and it can't. Surely. Please.
Nothing else I can tell you at the moment. Well, there's LOADS I could tell you at the moment, but I can't. Sorry'.
Friday, March 16, 2007
"Sixty Minutes" transcript
Remember the 10-part video from the 2002 "Sixty Minutes" interview that resurfaced last fall? Thanks to AQ reader 'daydreamcharms' we now have the transcript and can compare it with the show as it was originally broadcast. There were two bits of new canon revealed: - Mosag (Aragog's wife) is a Gaelic epithet meaning "dirty female or filthy."
- Jo shows two of the books she used for research: Fortune Telling By Cards, and Culpeper's Complete Herbal.
Can you identify the fortune telling book? The title, Fortune Telling by Cards, has many different editions and authors. It appears to me to date to the late 19th or early 20th century, so I think it is this book:
Prangley, Ida B. Fortune Telling by Cards, Describing How Card Are "Read" by Persons Professing to Tell Fortunes by Their Aid. London: L.U. Gill, 1900.Unfortunately rare book websites like alibris don't show the cover for this 1900 edition.
Culpeper's Herbal is readable/searchable online via Bibliomania.
P.S. I have links to the video here: Accio Quote!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
More information on earliest known video
AQ reader Julia Crimmins has been researching the origins of the video from Dissendium we told you about a little more than an month ago. She has determined that it's source is a video called "The Magical World Of J K Rowling - Author Of Harry Potter" published in the U.S. in 2000. Furthermore, it contains additional video of Jo (wearing the same outfit) signing the American edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so the video excerpt would seem to date to October 1999 when she was touring the U.S. Solid sleuthing, Julia!Later edit: I forgot to mention that you can also read a transcript of the video excerpt.
Thief!
And on a disgusted note, it has come to our attention that someone is selling a guide to book 7 that steals original content from the Harry Potter Lexicon, Jo's website and Accio Quote (our summaries), and then calls our work "bonuses" in order to charge you extra. No, we're not speaking of Mugglenet's book. They asked.
Nine new articles added
Nine new articles added, but alas, no new canon. Some of the news ones I'm adding aren't interviews at all, such as Time Magazine's review of the first movie, Judy Blume's editorial, and Arthur A. Levine's explanation of how he came to buy Rowling's first book. I found them interesting, and I hope you do too!1999: Time | Time | NYT | NYT
2000: Time | Time
2001: Time | Dish
2003: Time
Monday, March 12, 2007
New format for year indexes
Last year when we combined Madam Scoop's Index to J.K. Rowling Interviews and the Quick Quotes Quill I wasn't quite satisfied with the way the "by year" pages functioned.
On one hand, adding Madam Scoop's summaries to the list of citations made it easy to see what articles had canon-level information; but on the other hand, the pages were harder to use because they were so cluttered. Well, I think I found something I'm happy with -- the "by year" pages are now in chart form (samples 1997 - 2001 - 2005). Well most of them! The really big ones (1999 and 2000) aren't converted yet. Let me know what you think.
On one hand, adding Madam Scoop's summaries to the list of citations made it easy to see what articles had canon-level information; but on the other hand, the pages were harder to use because they were so cluttered. Well, I think I found something I'm happy with -- the "by year" pages are now in chart form (samples 1997 - 2001 - 2005). Well most of them! The really big ones (1999 and 2000) aren't converted yet. Let me know what you think.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Six New Articles added to Accio Quote
I have added six new articles to our archive. Enjoy!
- "Boy wizard frees trapped mother," Sunday Times (London), December 6, 1998
[Excerpt] Potter was drawn as a bespectacled hero because Rowling had worn thick glasses as a child and had been frustrated that spectacle-wearers were always the swots but never the heroes. The qualities that Rowling admires in Harry are also the ones that she has probably had to develop herself.
- "Wizard with Words," Telegraph Magazine (London), July 3, 1999
[Excerpt] She has a large working occult library and it's hard to catch her out on her magic. She was pleased to be quizzed by a boy on the difference between charms and transfiguration. - "Just Wild About Harry," The Scotsman (Edinburgh), July 8, 1999
[Excerpt] Adele Geras: ... when you embark on a saga like this you commit yourself, and that's part of the fun. You're one of the ones in the know: a Harry Potter fan. You can swap words and catchphrases which mere mortals won't recognise. You can make allusions that go over the heads of the ignorant. - "HP's novel encounter," The Times (London), June 27, 2000
[Excerpt] "To Bryony - who is the most important person I've ever met in a signing queue & the first person ever to see merit in Harry Potter. With huge thanks. J.K.Rowling." The "huge" has been underlined four times, signifying the contribution that Evens has made to this particular phenomenon. For it is she who, while working at the Christopher Little Literary Agency as office manager, opened the post one morning in 1996 to find her attention drawn to a black folder. - "Mother of all Muggles," The Irish Times, July 13, 2000
[Excerpt] No one would ever pick Rowling out as the creator of these books. She is not sufficiently weird or offbeat. She doesn't even have bright purple socks.
- "Media: Harry Potter and the Horrible Hackette; Which Interviewer Inspired the Venomous Portrait in J.K. Rowling's Latest Bestseller? Severin Carrell Rounds up the Likely Suspects," The Independent (London), September 5, 2000
Jo has said that the character Rita Skeeter was written long before she had to deal with unscrupulous reporters, but this writer tries to guess anyway.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Two short interviews/statements from 2006 added
I just uploaded two short interviews we missed from 2006: Jo's response when Lord Voldemort was voted "Best Villain" in a contest, and the ITV show on Robbie Coltrane where Jo talks briefly about the role of Hagrid.The most interesting comment refers to Voldemort. Rowling says that in book 7 Voldemort will finally get the "legroom" he has been "aching" for. Thank you to Julia Crimmins for the reminder.
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