JK Rowling – New book will be an adult novel

Author JK Rowling announces her plans to write a new book. It’s going to be adult fiction, and ‘very different’ to the Harry Potter books which made her famous… We can’t wait.

The seven Harry Potter books have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide. It’s fair to suggest that this success is something of a plight for any author who has not yet proved themselves to be eclectic. Being associated with just one thing can shape your entire creative career, whether you like it or not – and of course creative types don’t like it. Look at Christopher Eccleston – as the ninth Doctor Who he had the job of a lifetime, but gave it up after one series because the overwhelming success of the new format meant he was in danger of being typecast, never to escape the tagline of ‘Alien from Oop North’.

One can suggest it hasn’t been easy for JK Rowling, either. She knew the end of book seven of Harry Potter before she started on book one. As a runaway success, she had the option to drag the series on into infinity – but that would have undermined her creative integrity. She could create another children’s book, but – let’s face it – it would always be compared to the boy with the lightning scar, and probably unfairly.

Creating an adult novel is a safe bet for La Rowling. For one thing, many of her initial fans have grown up. Seven years – that’s nearly a decade. That’s a long time. For another thing, never mind other people comparing her latest work to Harry, Hermione et al – she’ll be wanting to avoid that pitfall, too. With an adult novel she can put Harry behind her and really enjoy the process of knocking out 100,000 words or so just for the sheer pleasure and discipline of it.

So what is JK Rowling’s new book about? We don’t know. We know only that she has decided to go with new UK publisher Little, Brown Book Group rather than Bloomsbury, and that it will be published worldwide (of course) although a date and title have not yet been released – they will be forthcoming, with plot details, later in 2012.

“The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me,” says Rowling, and we’re pleased for her success and new wings as a writer.

Will we be reading her new book when it comes out? Of course. We will, however, start getting suspicious if she starts referring to it as “The Book That Must Not Be Named”.