Long before BBM, I was hooked on Harry Potter and I am looking forward to the release of the 7th book this summer. I am sure we will have a frenzy of Potter-stuff in the coming weeks and months. Here's an interesting article which discusses writing related to Harry.
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/arts/articles/0514potterbook0514.html'Deathly Hallows' may end Harry Potter offshoots
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
The Wall Street Journal
May. 14, 2007 12:00 AM
When J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hits bookstores July 21, it will, as virtually everyone knows, mark the end of a 10-year run of seven books that have made publishing history.
But the series has spawned a whole literary ecosystem, with new offshoots expected to spring up as never before during these next few months. Hordes of adventuresome publishers are out there already, and others will be trying to cash in with books that predict what could happen in the final Potter title, provide behind-the-scenes analysis, or just plain ride piggy-back.
At least a dozen new or updated Harry Potter-related titles will likely be published this year, according to Cambridge Information Group Inc.'s R.R. Bowker. These aren't the kind of faux Potter fantasy tales that are posted on the Web, though there are plenty of those. (One site, harrypotterfanfiction.com, says it holds more than 34,000 stories and receives in excess of 40 million hits a month.)
Rather, these are works of nonfiction fueled by online Harry Potter communities that have kept the faith since the publication two years ago of the most recent book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." They include titles such as "The Making of the Potterverse: A Month-by-Month Look at Harry's First 10 Years" by Edward Gross, and George Beahm's "Muggles and Magic: An Unofficial Guide to J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter Phenomenon." In the fall, readers will also be offered Tere Stouffer's "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter."
Already there are more than 190 Harry Potter-related titles in print, according to R.R. Bowker. Among the more unusual: "If Harry Potter Ran General Electric: Leadership Wisdom From the World of Wizards" by Tom Morris published in 2006. There's also "Harry Potter and Torah," which Dov Krulwich self-published late last year. Mr. Krulwich, who works in the high-tech industry in Israel, describes the book as "Jewish perspectives on Harry Potter themes" and says it is aimed at teens and young adults.
The recent titles that mainly speculate on how the whole series will end will be so much "worm food in the landfill" as soon as "Hallows" hits the stores, says John Granger, who has written several Harry Potter-related titles, including the recently published "Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader." (One key: literary alchemy. "J.K. Rowling said in 1999 that she read a ridiculous amount about alchemy before she started writing the books," Mr. Granger says. "Hermione means mercury, for example, and sure enough her parents are dentists and her initials are H.G. Hg is the chemical symbol for mercury on the periodic table of elements.")
But the likelihood of a short shelf life isn't stopping publishers from moving quickly while interest is still high. "My suspicion is that there will be a rush of books after the series ends," says Daniel Nexon, an assistant professor in the government department at Georgetown University who co-edited "Harry Potter and International Relations," published last year by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. "Having the final book out will generate a lot of buzz, and they'll look at that frenzy as one last big marketing opportunity."
Book retailers are also mindful that nothing drives traffic to their stores like Harry Potter. Borders Group Inc., the nation's second largest book chain, has struck exclusive deals to sell two related Potter books: "The Great Snape Debate" and "The Unauthorized Harry Potter." The first has a gimmick that harks back to the early days of science fiction: the book must be turned upside down in order to read the counter argument regarding Snape's allegiances. The second title offers a broad perspective on various subjects Ms. Rowling has raised in her six published books.
Borders also has a Harry Potter page at the social community site Gather.com. One topic in particular - "Severus Snape: Friend or Foe?" - has generated more than 900 comments. Some are as basic as "Yeah, there is going to be a major plot twist." But others provide lengthy, thoughtful analysis. "This is the last hurrah for fans," says Anne Roman, a Borders spokeswoman. "When will they ever get to enjoy this level of interest again?"
Much like George Lucas's "Star Wars" films and Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," the Harry Potter books are whales to which many barnacles have attached themselves. Scholastic Corp., which publishes the series in the U.S., says there are 121.5 million Harry Potter books in print, with another 12 million set to be published July 21. The Harry Potter franchise has also benefited from four successful movies. The fifth, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," will open July 13.
There are limits. Copyright law will prevent other authors from offering new titles using Ms. Rowling's characters and settings unless they're obvious parodies. "Boundaries exist," says David S. Korzenik, a publishing attorney with the firm Miller Korzenik Sommers LLP. "Characters can be copyrighted, and settings can be protected," he says. "But if you are doing a parody you can go forward with the understanding that the parody won't be book eight or nine of the series but rather is trying to deliver something very different or transformative."
Most authors don't challenge amateur authors who write tales about favorite characters as long as it's not commercially distributed, he says. While it's technically a copyright infringement, "fan fiction" is usually perceived as a way for fans to enjoy themselves while creating further interest in the original work. "Nobody views it as a substitute," says Mr. Korzenik. Guidebooks and predictions of future events are protected as well, as long as authors don't borrow too heavily from Ms. Rowling's work.
Ms. Rowling will come under significant pressure from fans if she doesn't wrap up all the various plotlines she has created since the first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," was published in 1997 in the U.K. "They'll be clamoring for more," says literary agent Ann Rittenberg, whose 13-year-old daughter, Gracie, has already expressed regret that the series is coming to a close.
What will Ms. Rowling do next? Efforts to reach her weren't successful. However, last August, she gave a reading in New York City and later answered questions from the audience. At one point, when asked about her future, she replied: "I have a shorter, mercifully, book for I think slightly younger children that is half-written, so I may well go back to that when Harry's done."
It's likely that all related corners of the thriving Potter publishing industry will eventually slow once the final Harry Potter adventure is published. "We'll probably see fewer titles. The energy that comes from a release of a new book in the series will be over," says Roger Scholl, the editorial director of Bertelsmann AG's Currency/Doubleday business imprint, who edited Tom Morris's "If Harry Potter Ran General Electric."
Still, some caution against underestimating the passion of Harry Potter readers. Mr. Granger, an English teacher at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa., says academics will attempt to fix Ms. Rowling's place in the cultural firmament, much as they continue to do so for such writers as Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie. "I'm fairly certain Potter-mania will not go the way of disco and the hula-hoop," says Mr. Granger, who is currently working on "Harry Meets Hamlet and Scrooge," that will explore Harry's literary antecedents.
