GoF Darkness & Tone

[plinsenmayer]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6912
From: plinsenmayer
Subject: RE: GoF Darkness & Tone
Date: 8/15/00 3:52 pm  (ET)

Hi:

Mayacloud wrote: <<<Maybe I'm asking too much of a 'mere children's
story', but so far she has
shown some cleverness and subtlety in this regard.>>>

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record -- sorry. JKR has said in
virtually every interview that she's ever given that these books were NOT
written with any target audience in mind. They are *not* "mere childrens'
books." In fact, she wrote them with her own reading enjoyment in mind,
and, of course, she was an adult when she wrote them. They do have broad
cross-appeal to adults & children alike -- quite unique. But, Scholastic
is missing the boat by marketing them to the 9-12 age group. Given the
existing popularity among adults, they could really increase their sales
figures even more dramatically with a clever marketing plan aimed at
adults (both with & without kids).

A childrens' book that sold several hundred thousand copies would
be considered a "bestseller" by most publishers. By contrast, JKR's
books have record-setting sales. GoF had the largest print run EVER
(not just for childrens' books), and beat the nearest competitor (John
Grisham) by 158%. And, they've gone back to press for a 2nd print run
in record-setting time. There's no way anyone will ever convince me
that large numbers of adults are not buying these books for themselves
(not just for their kids or someone else's kids). Not with those sorts
of sales figures. Someone has cited a marketing study that estimates that
43% of the HP books that are sold are being sold to adults for adults.

I will skip my std NY Times rant (I know you're all breathing a big sigh
of relief on that one!).

Rant over. Sorry. I feel much better now. <g> Perhaps there should be
a warning in our FAQs section -- if you mention that the HP books are
"childrens' books," one of the co-founders is likely to begin to expound
endlessly (and in a tiresome manner) on the subject!! <vbg>

Thanks for putting up with my hot-buttons --

Penny