Simultaneous Worldwide Publication?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 85250

Currently there is a thread 'What if Harry dies?', and an aspect of
this has been the speculation that if word got out of Harry's death in
the last book, people would refuse to buy it, and the publishers would
refuse to print it.

Readers refuse to buy-

I don't think that is true. We all know how every TV show we watch is
going to end; we can even guess the end to a majority of movies.
Beaver is always sorry for screwing up. Greg Brady has always learned
his lesson. The cops alway catch the bad guy. And all comedic hi-jinx
are resolved in the end. etc... etc... etc...

We don't watch for the ending because we know it, we watch for the
story. I think sales might be down, if book seven ends in Harry's
death; down but not destroyed. Many people will simply want to fill
out their seven book set. Many will hate that Harry dies but will be
desperate to know how that event came about.

Publishers refuse to publish-

As I said above, this is a book that is guaranteed to sell, and the
world is full of people who can't live without know how the story
ends. Not just, does Harry live or die, but how is the whole story and
all its many characters resolved.

So, whether they like it or not, the publishers will publish. If
nothing else, JKR being the richest woman in the UK, even richer than
the Queen, could self-publish.

Distribution Dilemma -

We know all the secrecy that occurred during the release of the latest
book. I wonder how JKR is going to handle the release of the seventh
book? 

If she does an English version release before the foreign language
releases, for a vast majority of the world, the 'secret' will be out
long before their books are even printed.

I wonder if she will insist on simultaneous release of all languages,
or perhaps, all primary languages (English, French, German, Spanish,
Italian, Modern Greek, Japanese, Chinese, ?others)? 

And what will the level of secrecy be on this last book? It will have
to be on the order of magnitude of the governments top defense
secrets; right up there with the governments knowledge of UFOs.

Reader's Dilemma -

If JKR self-publishes and/or the book is released simultaneously in
all major languages, I can see that addinga year or possibly more to
the publication time of the book. Book 7 could be 10 year away, I
don't know if I can hold out for that long.

The Secret -

Unless there is a substantial drop in the general popularity of the HP
books, the demand to know what happened is going to be hysterically
overwhelming. I can't imagine how they are going to keep it a secret.
It will have to be more closely guarded than the Crown Jewels, and
unless I'm mistake, theive have actually stolen or come close to
stealing some of the Crown Jewels. Seems like a nearly impossible taks.

Just a few thoughts.

bboy_mn