Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling seems to be tweeting her way through some troubling business news regarding her publishing company today.
The worldwide digital publisher for Rowling’s Wizarding World, Pottermore, suffered a 40% profit drop from last year following a surge in lockdown sales, according to The Bookseller. Profits went from about $11 million to $6.8 million and revenues went from about $48.3 million in 2021 to $45.2 million.
If the news bothered Rowling, she seemed to ignore it on Tuesday, instead sharing a missive on Twitter about what it feels like to write something you’re really proud of.
“I know I should be out in the fresh air and the beautiful snowy landscape, but is there anything better than bashing out thousands of words – not all of which are crap – in a single sitting because your brain’s on fire and you’ve got to get the story down fast? No, there isn’t.”
She went on to share that writing was “a pure rush” and that moments like that make up for all the “rewriting and revising” to try and make gold out of lead.
“Of course, I’ll have to revise everything I’ve done in the last seven hours, but who cares?”
Then, she shared a moment where she felt exactly like that, involving Harry Potter and Quidditch.
“I wrote Harry’s first ever Quidditch match in a single afternoon and barely changed it afterwards. You feel elated afterwards, as though something took you over for a while, then dropped you back to earth.”
Finally she ended with how she was in her “pyjamas” and thanked everyone for letting her “share this moment of euphoria.”
As for Pottermore, it’s going to probably be just fine, despite the loss in revenue. Jennie McCann, managing director of Pottermore, said that sales of digital books are still “buoyant” and that more than one billion hours of Harry Potter stories have been listened to on Audible.
“Pottermore was launched in 2012 and has grown into one of the most successful digital publishing brands in the world,” McCann said. “… Our job is to make sure that as many people as possible around the world can enjoy the Harry Potter stories in digital formats. Embarking on the second decade of Pottermore’s journey, with plans to build on our success, we look to the future with considerable excitement.”
