Amazon.com has paid £1,950,000 at an auction, approximately 4 million US dollars, for a hand written book from the Harry Potter series Author J.K. Rowling. The book, entitled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", also includes original hand drawn illustrations, leather cover and sterling latches. Ms. Rowling donated the money to a children's charity in the U.K.The only thing I can say about paying 4 million for a book is I'm glad the proceeds went to charity.
With the recent stamp of approval J.K Rowling gave to fan fiction writers, there will continue to be a large number of spin off story arcs coming out. Harry Potter fans are fiercely loyal but want more. I think fan written stories will give readers what they are looking for. There is a huge Wizard world waiting to be written.
Wow! That's a great deal of money for a book that is one of it's kind. I wonder what rights came with the book. Will Amazon have someone type the story out so it can be published? They could make back their millions of dollars by selling copies of the rare story.
ReplyDeleteI think it's wonderful to hear Rowling release the world and characters to fans. Fan-fiction will help fill the gap but I don't think any true fans will find the stories as captivating as the original series. It's a magnificent world to explore. It will be interesting to see what other authors and fans come up with.
Smart authors could plan to release Potter fan-fictions or novels in synch with the final two movies to boost sales. It could be a good opportunity for many wanna-be authors who are trying to break into the industry.
Rebecca, I'm all for fan fiction. I have three Star Trek fan pieces about ready for release. Of course I'm not really interested in marketing them for money since I'm sure there are a lot of legal issues involved. But that doesn't mean I can't share my works with others.
ReplyDeleteWhat I wish is more franchise owners, like Rowling, would agree to let fans write additional stories after they have completed the series. Fan stories will never eat into sales of the original authors series, so it should be a no brainer. What a great way to continue building brand recognition.
If anything fan-fiction will increase the original sales. All the spin offs from Superman, Spiderman etc. have increased the fan base of these products and increased the market potential rather than saturate the economy. By releasing certain components of the copyright and maintaining others they could exponentially grow their potential profits.
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