(Image Source: PC World)
BY JESSICA FLY
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A big day for Harry Potter fans -- the mastermind behind the series, JK Rowling, has announced the launch of a new way for fans to interact with their favorite characters.
Coming soon -- it’s called “Pottermore” -- but in typical Rowling style, we don’t quite know what to expect.
CBS News gives its best guess.
“Pottermore invites fans into the world of Harry Potter through a magical online game. It features new and original writing. And fans become characters in their own virtual stories.”
The concept of Pottermore was supposed to stay locked away... until a few clues made to the London media. The Wall Street Journal explains -- how Rowling just couldn’t keep this one inside the Chamber of Secrets.
“Today, a leaked memo reportedly arrived at The Times of London and apparently it’s an elaborate online game according to this memo which seems to outline a marketing strategy. In the game apparently there will be clues that lead to magic wands in the real world, in the US, the UK and possibly other countries.”
And in a move that is sure to shake up the digital publishing industry -- Rowling made the leap for eBooks which will ONLY be available on Pottermore starting in October. She gives BBC some insight into that decision.
“I was writing, I was working so hard, the decision as to when to do it, how to do it just seemed like one thing I could defer. I was more interested in writing the books. And then we came, and when I say we it was really my agent, Neil Blair, and myself, and we sat down and we talked about eBooks and we decided, we can do it now. And what’s more, we can do it right. And that’s why it’s happening now.”
Not only is Rowling moving beyond pen and paper but she is doing it on her own -- selling directly to her customers. Wired explains how.
"Rowling is not only selling the book without the help of her publisher, she is also initially bypassing the major e-commerce sites at this stage — exclusively selling the e-books through Pottermore.com — so she technically stands to make 100 percent of the sales.”
And writer for Time says -- forget gaming -- it’s a literary experience.
Which means 18,000 words of never before seen information.
“Pottermore isn't a game: it's a series of illustrated environments, themed around “moments” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ...Pottermore's environments are more like digitized pop-up books than a graphic adventure game.”
The site opens to the first 1 million registries July 31st -- Harry Potter’s birthday. The rest will have to wait until October.
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