Release date sums

[davewitley]

Last time the announcement of the release date was made on 15th 
Jan.  This time it will be made on 21st Dec - 25 days earlier, give 
or take a couple of years.

A simple like-for-like comparison gives a date at the end of May; 
however, it might be sensible to add a week or so for the fact that 
everything closes down here for Christmas, bringing us into early 
June.

One may suppose that this book is shorter than OOP and GOF (because -
 hollow laugh - JKR said it would be, and because she has written it 
quicker than OOP (though not GOF)); I don't know if that affects the 
duration of the time from submission of the MS to publication.  Not 
that much, I would imagine.

Finally, as an aside, I note that Bloomsbury's financial year is 
coterminous with the calendar year - by promising a definite release 
date this week, she may have done Bloomsbury quite a favour, since 
it may allow them to strengthen their balance sheet at year end.

We now ought to revisit the ever-fascinating question: how long will 
the book be?  I'm guessing we won't be told the number of pages (or 
words) this time around just yet, as it would partly pre-empt the 
website poll.

David