JK Rowling Confirms Work on Harry Potter Encyclopedia

 

Remember encyclopedias? They were giant books - or a series of books - that magically held the answers to nearly every question you could ask. There were descriptions, pictures, maps and references if you wanted to learn more. They seem to be going away now that we have the Internet, but our need for them is not gone, at least not in all cases: enter the avid Harry Potter fan.

Who is this "avid Harry Potter fan"? This is the person - age, race, gender, and ethnicity is of no consequence - who devoured the seven books written about Harry and his magical world by JK Rowling. This person saw every Harry Potter film, possibly even at its midnight release. This fan either already has or is in the process of obtaining their Pottermore username as you are reading these very words. This dedicated soul, who closed the pages of Rowling's books, but never really ever let their imagination wander too far from Platform 9 3/4, may even write some Harry Potter fan fiction pieces of their own. In short, the "avid Harry Potter fan" is that person who has an insatiable appetite for all that JKR brought to life in her more than 1 million words about Harry.

And "insatiable" means only one thing... they need more.

For a long time JK Rowling has been hounded by questions about developing an exhaustive encyclopedia containing references to magical creatures, lands, laws, people... well, all of the stuff you would see in a regular encyclopedia, only this one referencing nothing but the magical world in the Harry Potter series. In her Pottercast interview in December 2007, she had this to say:

"Yeah. Would it be okay if that's ten years? [No one laughed.] No, listen, I absolutely intend to do it, but I can't pretend that I'm in a hurry right now. It's gonna be a hell of a lot of work. But I have - I've kept everything and I know where things are and yeah, at some point I will get myself together and do it."

I'm not sure if that's the moment she realized how desperately her fans wanted this work, but when she said she planned to do it, she wasn't kidding. Along with a myriad of other fantastic announcements this Spring coming from the Rowling camp like eBook and digital audio versions of the Harry Potter series, the release date of her new adult novel The Casual Vacancy, and the opening of Pottermore to the general public, we have official encyclopedia news!
Tucked away in the "FAQs & Rumours" section of www.jkrowling.com, Rowling addresses the simply stated question "What about the Harry Potter Encyclopaedia?" here is her answer:

For a long time I have been promising an encyclopaedia of Harry’s world, and I have started work on this now – some of it forms the new content in Pottermore. It is likely to be a time-consuming job, but when finished I shall donate all royalties to charity.

It's not done. There is no date for release. However, what we have here is confirmation, from JK Rowling, herself, that the book is in motion. In the meantime, my fellow Potterheads, take to the Internet, grab your Harry Potter books and meet me in Pottermore! I'm PumpkinElm207 and I'm not saying that I'm an avid Harry Potter fan or anything, but I am happy to say that I'm not just a muggle anymore.

Have you been anxiously awaiting this work from JKR?

Are you more excited about this book, or JKR's "The Casual Vacancy"?

This story is also shared

on Word of the Nerd. 

Pottermore Shop Is Open For Business

Hang on to your wands, fellow Potterheads, our books have finally been digitized. Today Pottermore announced via Twitter, Blog and e-mail to its followers, that the Pottermore Shop is open.

In the Pottermore Shop one can purchase all seven Harry Potter books as they have finally been transformed into eBooks and digital audiobooks. According to the shop, the eBooks are compatible with "all leading eReaders, tablets and smartphones.." The digital audiobooks, narrated by the incomparable Jim Dale, are compatible with "MP3 players, including iPods and hundreds of other audio devices."

The eBooks will cost you $7.99 USD each for the first three books and $9.99 USD each for the final four. If you wish to buy all seven eBooks at once, this will save you 10% for a total cost of $57.54 USD. The audiobooks also have varying prices for the first three books, which cost $29.99 USD each, and the final four books, which cost $44.99 USD each.. Again, you can save 10% on the set with a total cost of $242.94. For those who are in the giving mood, the Pottermore Shop provides an "Instant Gift" option, whereby you can send anyone with an e-mail address a code they can redeem in the shop for an eBook or audiobook of your choice.

The books are only available in English (US and UK) at this time. However, according to the Shop, "French, German, Spanish and Italian language eBooks will be available soon, and many further languages will follow. Digital audio books in German and Italian will also be available shortly."

So, while you wait for the wide release of Pottermore - the interactive site which brings the Harry Potter books to life with added story elements, and opportunities to immerse the reader in Harry's magical world like creating your own potions, wand dueling, and picking out your owl - you can now get your 21st century supplies ready for the adventure. I can only imagine that today's announcement is a good sign Pottermore's public gates will open sooner rather than later in the month of April.

 What will you do?

Are you buying the set?

Are you giving it as a gift?

Are you waiting for birthdays, Christmas, etc."

Are you happy with your print and paper and sticking to it?

This news was also shared on Word of the Nerd,

because everyone loves Harry! :)

First Book Love Vlog from SableCaught

Back when I first learned about Pottermore I stumbled upon a fantastic book vlogger, SableCaught (Stevie Finnigan) whose videos I have subscribed to ever since. I love to watch her reviews of her latest reads as well as her great advice for book lovers, in general. She's fun, honest and has a great passion for the books in her life.

It finally occurred to me a couple of weeks ago, while watching Stevie's latest video that she would be a very interesting person to ask about first book loves. I sent along my request and am happy to report that not only did we get an answer for the Rivera Runs Through It Book Love Series, but I also have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to SableCaught in the way she is most well-known on the Internet - in video format!

Without any further adieu, I present to you SableCaught, straight from her YouTube channel:

1,000 thank yous to SableCaught for participating in this series and for, once again, describing books with such enthusiasm that I want to dive right into each and every one of them right now. I'm convinced if I ever had the privilege of visiting Stevie's book shop, she would sell me everything she had on her shelves just by telling me of her experience with each book!

SableCaught posts new videos every Monday and Thursday. As a subscriber to her channel, I highly recommend it to fellow book lovers.

Do you share any of Stevie's book love choices?

What about her experience of bringing books home from her grandparents' home, this sounds wonderful, did you have a similar relationship with anyone in your family?

*Remember, everyone is invited to be a part of 

the Rivera Runs Through It Book Love Series!

If you have a story to share, or are willing to be 

interviewed, contact me via e-mail. 

Are You Ready for Pottermore?

Whether you are a Pottermore Beta tester awaiting your e-mail, or, like the rest of the world, just waiting for the wide release in October - I'd like to share some [NON SPOILER] tips with you for this fantastic journey of fun!

1. Get your Harry Potter books and reading glasses ready. I have tried it both ways - reading along as I go through Pottermore and not reading just to get through more quickly and I must say that reading along makes for a much richer experience. This is a an experience designed around these seven books, so it makes sense to bring them along for the ride!
2. Once they start getting them, jot down your friends' Pottermore user names. My user name is PumpkinElm207. Look me up when you get to Pottermore, let's be friends! Either email me your name or put it in the comments below!
3. Take your time and ask others to not reveal any *spoilers* to you. It's difficult when everyone is so excited about what they are finding all over Pottermore, but I do believe this should be your experience as well. Rather than searching online to find out all of the different things that JK Rowling wrote on the site, wait until you get there and discover it for yourself. It is such a wonderful surprise when you stumble upon one of her fabulous story snippets!
4. Keep in mind that for many readers of our future, Harry Potter may be first read using Pottermore. In other words, gauge your expectations based on where you are in the story. Many comments on the site have been asking for much more of the story to be revealed all the way at the beginning of the journey. Please remember while you are on Pottermore that some people there (I know this may be hard for you to believe) may not have read all (or any of the Harry Potter books!).

Photo from geeksaresexy.net

I think that's all I can say at this time without revealing too much of what's going on in Pottermore itself. Having spent only four days there myself so far, I must say I am in book love all over again with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Philosopher's Stone) and can't believe again how amazing JK Rowling is. This project is an amazing experience for all Harry Potter fans, but I think, also, all readers and writers to see how we can continue to engage in a reading long after it seems the story has ended.


So I'd like to give a huge "Thank You!" shout out to JK Rowling and the whole Pottermore staff for such a great experience so far!

Are you in Pottermore , or waiting for an e-mail?

Have you decided to wait for October?

How do you feel about the potential of Harry Potter being introduced to many readers alongside the Pottermore experience? Do you think they should read first without it, or use them hand in hand?

UPDATE: 

HERE IS A LINK FOR A POTTERMORE FORUM WITH FANS GATHERING TO ASK/ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT POTTERMORE! **TREAD CAREFULLY THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE!!**

My Magical Monday

I feel tingly all over. It makes sense, too. I am magical after all. I was just told so by the Magical Quill!

After pumping myself full of caffeine (I did this with the help of Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream before dinner and some dark chocolate squares about an hour ago... that would be 4am!) I waited patiently by my computer through a lightning and thunder storm, the calm after, and as the sun rose behind me. I kept myself occupied with blog reading and then, ultimately, chatting it up with Pottermore tweeps from all over the US, Britain, France, Brazil, Australia and even the Philippines. Then, as one twitter friend asked me what the time was in New York, USA, I noticed it was exactly 5am.

One thing I didn't let pass all night (starting at 12am London time) was refreshing the Pottermore page on the hour. *POW!* There it was the second Magical Quill clue:

I called frantically for my husband, so he could call my friend to wake her and tell her (this was at her request!) while I tried to read, absorb and think about the clue. 

*DISASTER* My brain was absolute mush! I feared this. I started multiplying everything by 42. When I was one number off, I had made it into a foreign site! This was no good. Suddenly answers were everywhere - being texted to me, on my twitter feed, I was so grateful! I was a complete mess!!

Once I had typed in the appropriate web address for the English version of the Chamber of Secrets, and, in turn, the English version of the Pottermore site, I was taken to something that looked like an advertisement for Deathly Hallows Part 2:

Due to my fried brain, I once again had difficulty knowing what to do next. I probed at the menu when my husband and I almost both knocked the monitor off the desk by pointing out the QUILL on the page (do you see it there? It kind of STANDS OUT!).

Then, rather than try to pry the quill out the screen with our bare hands, I decided to actually click it:

Then, the journey could begin...

The five questions asked were:

• Birth date
• Where you live?
• Name and e-mail address (if a minor, then I believe it is name of parent and parent's e-mail)
• Password
• Which Harry potter books you've read and which Harry Potter movies you've seen

It is after these questions were answered, when I completed this "journey,' that something, well, magical happened:

I am in the book! I am "magical." There's no denying it! The Magical Quill says so!

However, the fun wasn't over yet. I needed a magical name. There were choices given:

I really was thinking only about the first two (although "StarCloak" is pretty cool, too), but the pumpkin and the tree won me over. My parents always used to call me "Pumpkin" and I love trees (I should probably write a post about that sometime soon), so...

The e-mail did not come right away. No big deal. One of the benefits of being a Day 2 person is that you witness all of the freak outs of Day 1 and learn that there is nothing really to freak out about. However, by the time I started writing this post, my e-mail had arrived!

There was a link at the bottom that had to be clicked within 48 hours (I think I did it within 48 seconds!) in order to register, otherwise it was all for nothing. I clicked it and found out

I am "one of the lucky ones."

Yay! Joy and splendor!! I am in the Pottermore BETA group! Sometime before October 2011 I will receive an e-mail with my formal invitation to begin my journey through Pottermore and, what I'm looking forward to most, be sorted into a Hogwarts House!

I guess I'll just have to keep checking my e-mail, keeping an eye out for my owl! 

A Huge Thank You To:

•  My fellow #pottermore tweeps that kept me company on twitter. Especially those that worked toward us getting #pottermoreWORLD to trend while we learned about each other!
• My husband and friend, Cristyn, who both were calming influences on my obviously sleep-deprived brain.
• To all the Rivera Runs Through It readers and FaceBook fans that crossed their fingers that I would only be a muggle until Monday.

and, of course

• Ms. Rowling and her crew that came together to make such an exciting, global and happy experience for all of the fans of a very special book series!

Muggle 'Til Monday (at least...)

It's July 31st. In the world of all things Potter, this is the holiest of days. It is JK Rowling's birthday, Harry Potter's birthday, and, in 2011, it is the date the first Magical Quill clue was released on Pottermore.com.

I was ready.

I was counting down.

I was armed with a laptop by 11pm on July 30th.

It wasn't enough...

What I hadn't guarded against was my exhaustion and global time zones!

You see, the only information I had was that a clue would be revealed ON July 31st that would enable participants to register early (before October 2011) for Pottermore. There was no discussion of what time that would happen!

I stayed with my laptop until about 3:45am EST, then I decided to sleep until 6am EST/11am BST (I had read in several places about a leak that the clue would be released then). When I woke up, I found the following message on Pottermore.com:

Screen capture from Pottermore.com

I had missed it. The registration was closed! After some investigation, it seems I had missed it by an hour!

Alas, all is not lost!

Getting Into the Pottermore BETA Group

From the Pottermore Insider blog.

There are SEVEN days of Quills, not one, so I still have SIX more to go. As the banner says above:

Those of you who would like the chance to gain early access to Pottermore must find The Magical Quill and then submit their registration details. Each day, from 31 July to 6 August, a clue will be revealed here. Solve the clue and you will be taken to The Magical Quill. Be quick, The Magical Quill won’t be there for long and registration will only be open while spaces are still available each day. [from pottermore.com]

So I'll be trying again Monday. Here's some stuff that I know that will help me (and you too, if you are interested) out:

• The clues will NOT be revealed at the same time each day.
• The clues correspond to the books. So day one's clue was from book one, day two's clue should be from book two, and so on.
• On days 1-3 the clues will be more difficult than on days 4-7.
• The website for early registration is http://quill.pottermore.com/TheAnswerToTheClueOfTheDay For example day one's clue was : How many breeds of owls mentioned in Eeylops Owl sign x 49! Which worked out to be 245. So the registration, while it was open could be found at http://quill.pottermore.com/245
• They are not kidding about the clue not being there for long. According to what I've gathered, the first clue lasted about 20 minutes.

Places To Go For Help/Information

from Pottermore Insider blog.

 Last night, as I was getting ready to sign up (before I fell asleep on the job!), I found a number of resources that were willing to help and share whatever information they had about the process. Here is a short list of the "go to" sources, if you are still a muggle like me:

• Harry Potter For Writers Did a great job last night covering the whole process. I am not sure the blog will continue through the week since they got their quill and their e-mail accepting them into Pottermore, but it's not a bad place to check out to catch up on any clues you may have missed until now.
• Pottermore Insider is the official Pottermore blog. It was started on July 14th and has already had a hidden link to help out faithful fans and kept everyone up to date on this Quill Quest. Note: They will not announce when registration starts, only when it is closed for the day.
• Pottermore on Twitter is helpful to follow the blog above, but they have stated a number of times that no additional clues will be given through this account, as they do not want to give an unfair advantage to proplr on Twitter.
• The Pottermore Help Page This is really probably where you should go first, just to acclimate yourself with the nuts and bolts of the entire operation! 

Worst Case Scenario...

After waking up an hour late and realizing what I had done, I ventured over to my #pottermore twitter stream to see how the twitterverse fared in the Quill Quest. It was such a mixed bag of emotions. There were the celebratory magical ones, the trash-talking "I got in B!tch" types, there were those who would brag about how many different accounts they signed up at once, there were the depressed, the dejected and the truly down-trodden.

I'll admit, when I first wiped the sleep from my eyes and realized how close I was to getting in and I missed it, I was disappointed in myself. It really wasn't until I saw others experiencing the same feelings that I realized how silly we were being. I remembered the power of one little word: yet. I used to tell my students this one all of the time when they would say, "I don't get math." I would correct them and say, "You mean you don't get math YET... it's coming, don't give up!"

Well. I give the same advice to my fellow Muggles 'Til Monday! We are not in Pottermore, that is true, but what we need to say is:

I am not in Pottermore... YET!

Because this project was so beautifully designed that even in your wildest nightmares of not finding a quill or answering all of the clues, we are ALL still welcomed to join Pottermore.com in October 2011!

Until then, I've had my wardrobe stocked with appropriate attire from Hot Topic for years now, no need to fret about my Muggle status!

My first-ever Muggle t-shirt. (There are more now, of course. Thanks Hot Topic!)

Did you attempt the Pottermore Quill Quest on Day 1?

Did you receive your e-mail/find the quill?

Would you rather wait until October 2011 for Pottermore?

 

Pottermore: The First Steps on The Adventure

With great anticipation (and a strong desire to go right back to bed) I awoke at 6:45am this morning to be ready for the 7am reveal of JK Rowling's latest venture: Pottermore.

My laptop was on and already open to the YouTube announcement page, where I was able to watch the following:


Step 1: Following My Owl
The mesmerizing music and JK Rowling's soothing voice convinced me that staying awake was worth my time and I followed the owl to pottermore.com! In about an hour's time I had my e-mail submission accepted.

No, no - thank YOU!

 I read the message on the screen and wondered What should I do UNTIL July 31st??

Step 2: Finding Other Owls
I stared, in fascination at my column in tweetdeck dedicated to #pottermore - it just kept scrolling and scrolling - there was no time or way to read any of the tweets being posted. I have never seen anything like it. I closed it and started a new column searching #followtheowl and was able to pick up a couple of new twitter friends that might help me in my quest. 

Step 3: Help An Owl With Clipped Wings
Then I realized one of my friend was stuck at work and might not have been able to submit her e-mail. I texted her and found out this was the case. I went back to pottermore.com and tried over and over again. I can say this: now, passed 5:30PM, her e-mail has still not been accepted and the sit is acting even funkier than it started. The website has been overwhelmed by requests.

Step 4: Time to Sharpen My Beak
I spent most of my day reading press releases, finding new tweeps and trying to figure out what my next steps are. In a moment I will share the links of the most useful things I have found, but here is where my head is at:
On July 31st an e-mail will be sent out to everyone who gets their e-mail into pottermore.com between now and then. This e-mail will include some sort of registration process. The first one million people to complete that registration process will gain early access to the Pottermore world before it opens to the public in October. I don't know what that registration will include, but I doubt it will be easy and I will not be surprised if there are clues in the interim leading us to the correct responses. I am going to try to be one of the first million. If I make it - awesome. If I don't, well then October is my birthday month and I can't think of a better birthday gift than finally knowing which House at Hogwarts I belong to!

References and Where I Am Going Next:

• Full Text from JK Rowling Pottermore Press Conference
• Latest Harry Potter News
• Pottermore - The Final Reveal

Up Next

• PotterCast LIVE

The livestream event is from The Leaky Cauldron peeps, so I am curious to see what they have to say tonight. I'd like to s if they have any suggestions for what to do between now and July 31st.

Pottermore Findings... This Is Going To Be FUN!

After learning about Pottermore last week and posting everything I knew at the time, I continued to search, read and keep an eye on all things "pottermore" hoping that I wouldn't miss out on the next big clue. Since tomorrow is the official announcement day I have not hit on anything huge, but, pulling some pieces together, a picture of what is coming seems to be emerging.

MY CLUES: 

1. The Trademark "Goods and Services" Description of Pottermore as revealed to me through an article in The Escapist magazine is quite telling that Pottermore is designed to be an interactive online experience of sorts.

"Providing multiple-user access to a global computer information network; providing on-line chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among users in the field of general interest; providing on-line communications links which transfer the web site user to other local and global web pages; providing on-line facilities for real-time interaction with other computer users concerning topics of general interest"

2. All of the Beautiful Numbers that I so carelessly overlooked until I read the article Pottermore: What You Probably Missed in the Numbers. While I did take note of the fact that there were unchangeable numbers on the YouTube Announcement page, I did not stop to ask myself what the significance of these numbers was. While I definitely recognized that the number of owls was changing and that this was not a typical YouTube video, I have to be honest, I thought that was just a way to make things more intriguing to the viewer. This article changed my mind. THE NUMBERS ARE SIGNIFICANT! And of course they are - this is JK Rowling, after all, she has always used meaningful numbers in her work! Read the article, and pay attention!

The number of owls is now getting ridiculous - I count 32, plus the guy flying in the background!

3. The Leaked Memo Rumors are finally starting to surface about the details of some memo released to various newspapers concerning this large-scale PR event. This article Pottermore: Confidential PR Document? from The Independent seems to have the most details about it. [WARNING: Possible spoiler alert... if this leak is legit] This is a very exciting description including terms such as "Quill Quest," "wands being laced and found," and the "idea of a Daily Prophet wrap" along with a timeline stretching from late June (now) through October.

MY THOUGHTS:

If we combine all of these clues, along with the tool used to reveal Pottermore to Harry Potter fans - an online scavenger hunt (check out the video summation in last week's Pottermore post)- then I am fairly certain that we are on board for an online gaming experience. I am wondering, though, if this game will break through the virtual world and actually have some experiences in the real world.

Last year my husband and I got pretty roped up in such a quest following the We Lost Our Gold clues here in New York City. Video clues were given on YouTube, weekly, and they led to a treasure chest filled with $10,000 worth of gold coins hidden somewhere in the city. I gave up, swearing someone beat us to it on week eight, only to find out JUST NOW that no one has found it yet!! It was loads of fun to play along, to run through the city after a night of intense Internet research, so I wonder if JK Rowling will take this idea to global scale?

It's hard to say if something like that could work. However, I do believe the game is on. In some way, shape or form, I think those of us wrapped up in the Pottermore drama will be involved in some massive multiplayer online game. I'd love to see it somehow bridge the gap and connect us offline in the same way that the Harry Potter books brought us all back to bookstores, libraries and pages. I believe, if anyone can do it, JK Rowling, the great author of the magic arts, can! 

Do you like the idea of a massive multiplayer online game?

Have you found clues that have lead you to believe Pottermore will be something else? 

My Latest Pottermore Post:

• Pottermore: The First Steps on The Adventure 

Pottermore = MORE Potter Enough Said!

I am completely STOKED! I just got a completely enigmatic text message from a fellow Potter fan that said simply:

Pottermore?

I had NO IDEA what that meant. She directed me to Google it (thank you Cristyn!!) and now I am overcome with excitement. As I am sitting here counting down the weeks, days and hours until the 12:01am showing of the final Harry Potter film that we already have tickets to, I have now been informed that there WILL be MORE POTTER!! 

This is all that can be currently seen on pottermore.com

It is mysterious. It is exciting. It is from JK, herself and rumors are that it will be some kind of online experience. The only thing that has been said definitively: it will NOT be another book. (It's all good with me JK... as a blogger I can still see how an "online experience" could be blessed with some of your writing!! Pretty please!!)

Here's one quick web-news story I have found doing a quick rundown of the Pottermore release:

And here is the VERY COOL way the news was revealed to Harry Potter fans. I absolutely love it already!



Thank you so much, SableCaught for giving us such a great tour!!

Fabulous, fabulous news for all the fans out there. Time for me to go get my wand earrings and my Harry Potter T-Shirts ready because it is time for MORE Potter... ahem... I'm sorry I keep getting that backwards: IT IS TIME FOR POTTERMORE!! (Here's the countdown.)

What do YOU think it will be?