Maybe I'm Just Easily Annoyed
I sometimes feel as if I'm missing the boat and being a bit of a wet blanket because I'm not a Harry Potter fan. Really, I wish I could be part of the whole experience. I don't think J.K. Rowling is a bad writer, and her work has brought a lot of attention to children's writing, which is good.
But it really ticks me off when she starts teasing between books. The-guess-who-I'm-killing-off-this-time? schtick was pulled out before the last three new books for what purpose other than keeping the fans riled and interested? And now she's toying with readers by suggesting she might write another book about Harry Potter's world.
This kind of thing isn't about writing. It's about marketing. While I know writers need to do it (this is what this blog is about, after all), traditionally a writer markets her writing. She doesn't manipulate her readers. There's something distasteful about the way she twists the process, as if she's using her readers instead of writing for them.
4 comments:
I'm a Harry Potter fan and I find it incredibly aggravating. If I see one more headline about how she sobbed her heart out about blah blah blah I'm -- well I'm still going to buy the last damn HP book but I'll pass on the "related" works. Lord knows I can't deal with more years of her press releases informing one of how far she's gone, and if she felt happy or sad about it, how she feels about blah blah blah blah blah.
*whew* glad I got that out. :)
Maybe it would bother me even more if I did love the books.
I think Rowling's under unusual pressure from the news/entertainment media to divulge things, pressure at a level probably not seen since Dickens was in his heyday. That means every comment she makes is amplified and analyzed beyond all reason. Yes, one kind reaction might be to stop making comments. But even when she says very little, it gets blown up and broadcast around the world.
That is a valid (and kind) point. She can't control what others say about her. But I do think that if she objected to this sort of thing, she would be more careful about what she says.
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