I suppose I should say something... • 20 July 2007 • The SnowBlog
I suppose I should say something...
...about Harry Potter. But it will be brief. I don't really feel any differently towards HP than I do towards the dozens of other books which sell more than 100,000 copies a year. They are all in the same group in my mind: big, obvious, mass market books. They neither affect us positively nor negatively: they are Other, a different business model, a different experience, a different scale of publishing. Sure, we get hits from time to time, but a hit for us is 50,000 copies. And they are children's books, and we don't publish children's. (Yes, I know they're crossover, but editorially they're a genre we don't publish within.) So I don't really have any feelings, as an indie publisher - like whether it's good for business, bad for business, good for audience - about the books whatsoever. And that is all. I can't say anything about my perceptions of their literary quality as I've never read any of them. But if you're partaking, I hope that everyone has a lot of fun tonight!
//Update, close to Saturday lunchtime.//
I may not be a HP fan, but my husband is. He pre-ordered online. It's 11am on the Saturday, and he was really looking forward to spending today reading the book - and now today is nearly half-way through. I know the Royal Mail have 600,000 parcels to deliver, but bloody hell, they've known about it for at least three years. Typical.
I'll let you know when it finally arrives. Bet it's Monday.
//Update 2 - mid afternoon.//
I got on my bike and went to get one from the local bookshop. Should have done that anyway in the first place! He is now up to page 84 and is mute, so I trust it's a good un.
Emma
...about Harry Potter. But it will be brief. I don't really feel any differently towards HP than I do towards the dozens of other books which sell more than 100,000 copies a year. They are all in the same group in my mind: big, obvious, mass market books. They neither affect us positively nor negatively: they are Other, a different business model, a different experience, a different scale of publishing. Sure, we get hits from time to time, but a hit for us is 50,000 copies. And they are children's books, and we don't publish children's. (Yes, I know they're crossover, but editorially they're a genre we don't publish within.) So I don't really have any feelings, as an indie publisher - like whether it's good for business, bad for business, good for audience - about the books whatsoever. And that is all. I can't say anything about my perceptions of their literary quality as I've never read any of them. But if you're partaking, I hope that everyone has a lot of fun tonight!
//Update, close to Saturday lunchtime.//
I may not be a HP fan, but my husband is. He pre-ordered online. It's 11am on the Saturday, and he was really looking forward to spending today reading the book - and now today is nearly half-way through. I know the Royal Mail have 600,000 parcels to deliver, but bloody hell, they've known about it for at least three years. Typical.
I'll let you know when it finally arrives. Bet it's Monday.
//Update 2 - mid afternoon.//
I got on my bike and went to get one from the local bookshop. Should have done that anyway in the first place! He is now up to page 84 and is mute, so I trust it's a good un.