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JKR's First Editor Says She Was Fierce But "An Editor's Dream"

Reuters posted an interview with Barry Cunningham, J.K. Rowlings' first editor at Bloomsbury who published the UK editions of her Harry Potter series. Mr. Cunningham "championed" Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone after several publishers rejected it. For his efforts, Ms. Rowling presented him with one of the limited hand-written copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Click here to read more.

The interview with Mr. Cunningham happened while he was in Scotland, speaking at the National Library of Scotland, which is exhibiting his copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He told Reuters that he received the manuscript for Philosopher's Stone in the mid-1990's. "When I first got the book I didn't know everyone else in the universe had turned it down, so I read it as a book and I loved it," Cunningham told Reuters in Edinburgh on Wednesday. What I really loved about it was the friendship of the children, the support they gave to each other and the fact that they were able to overcome so many difficulties ... the adult world was against them and they got together to overcome that." When he was asked what it was like to edit Ms. Rowling's writing, Mr. Cunningham was quoted to have said this: "She's fierce, she fights back. Obviously my role as an editor is a bit like a first boyfriend -- you have to trust me and we have to have a to-and-fro. "She's very determined but willing to listen and to give way when the argument is against her. So I'd say she's an editor's dream in that she really worked out the back story." Click here to read the complete article.

3 Dec 08| by Lilysowl | Category JKR | Views 810 | Comments 2 | Submit News Print | RSS | Return Home |

by jujubee @ 4 Dec 2008 - 13:51

I've always wondered the exact same thing ricks brt 1/2. I'm sure alot of them (if not all) are still kicking themselves in the butt about it.

by @ 3 Dec 2008 - 16:46

I wonder how many of those other publishers are regretting the decision that they made not to publish HP!!!

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