Spells behind the scenes

Interviews with Emma Matthewson and Helen Nicoll about their work behind the scenes that has contributed to the phenomenal success of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Matthewson is Rowling's editor at Bloomsbury; Nicoll is founder of audiobooks specialist Cover to Cover which in 2005 fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Bookseller (London) 2007-08 (5292), p.20-21
Main Authors: Rushton, Katherine, Rickett, Joel
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Interviews with Emma Matthewson and Helen Nicoll about their work behind the scenes that has contributed to the phenomenal success of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Matthewson is Rowling's editor at Bloomsbury; Nicoll is founder of audiobooks specialist Cover to Cover which in 2005 formed a joint venture with Bloomsbury to publish Harry Potter audiobooks. Matthewson explains that Rowling regarded her as "the first reader" and that the main difficulties of editing arose from the fact that the series was conceived as a whole from the beginning: "Rowling has constructed this whole edifice so carefully that even one tiny element coming out can send the whole lot tumbling down". This complexity, she believes, will only be fully understood with retrospective evaluation. Nicoll explains that in audiobook form Harry Potter was unusual from the start in being unabridged, long and expensive. She is convinced Stephen Fry's reading - using 170 different voices - shaped public perceptions of some of the characters and influenced the films. The same team of four worked on the series from beginning to end. Sales have been spectacular but Nicoll does not believe it has lifted audiobooks generally beyond their niche audiences. (Quotes from original text)
ISSN:0006-7539