[HPFGU-OTChatter] Harry Potter Publishers

[ewe2]

On Sat, Jun 11, 2005 at 04:09:36AM -0000, Joe Bento wrote:
> This is likely a question that has been asked and answered before, but
> I've been unable to find any information.
> 
> Bloomsbury is the publisher of the books in the UK as well as the
> original and first publisher of the books.
> 
> Bloomsbury has a USA branch.
> 
> Since I am ignorant about how publishing works, how was Scholastic
> chosen for the US publisher rather than Bloomsbury USA?  For that
> matter, Scholastic has a UK branch. So same question applies.

*penguin fin breaks the surface*

I believe it was the best deal for the US demographic they could get,
especially since Scholastic has a lock on US primary schools (don't forget the
series is being sold to _children_, not adults). The way literary agents work
is to get the best deal for the USA, the UK market and the world, it rather
improves their commission :) So neither agent nor author would benefit from
selling to a subsidiary. Publishers tend to have subsidiarys in foreign
markets to make both deals and the logistics of publishing cheaper; authors do
make deals with them, but you're going to set your sights higher if half the
world wants your book contract :) Rowling and her agent knocked on a lot of
doors before publishers really took notice.

The real question though, is why the two biggest publishers, Penguin and
HarperCollins, missed out.

*splash*

ewe2

-- 
sed awk grep cat dd ..Im a luser baby ,so why don't you killall -kill me.