Friday, June 24, 2011

Is Pottermore really going to be More?

The Twitterverse has been abuzz with news of J.K. Rowling's new site, Pottermore.com. There was a big mysterious build-up when everyone was speculating about what it could be. Now there's a video out there and a registry where you can sign up for the site, which will be launched in October.

The video is pretty cool, with book pages that turn into spiders, owls and trees. Kudos to the graphic artists who put that together! During the video, J.K. explains that Harry Potter ebooks will be available for purchase.

I was surprised, to be honest, that Harry Potter ebooks have not been available yet. I can't say that I've ever looked for them in electronic format since I have them all in hardback (as does, arguably, a large percentage of the population). Still, I would have assumed they'd be available for Kindle or Nook if I'd gone looking. That's like having a huge blockbuster movie that never gets released on DVD. Shocking!

Bloggers are kicking around what this might mean to the ebook business and whether Amazon will capitulate to allowing Kindles to accept epub formats.

It's all very fascinating from the standpoint of watching giants wrestle, but I want to know what's so MORE about Pottermore.

She says in the video that she's been hoarding additional Harry Potter things and will reveal them as part of the site. Okay cool, but is that worth getting all excited about? I love HP, don't get me wrong, but for all the buzz, I really want PotterMORE. New, exciting tales of adventure like only J.K. can do, right? That's what would be MORE for me.

As it is, they are collecting (I'm sure) millions of registrations so have a direct link to their customer base. Marketing jackpot, really. I'm going to wait and see. I'll willingly eat the sorting hat if it turns out to be The.Most.Awesome.Site.Ever. I hope it does. But for now, I need a little MORE.

3 comments:

  1. Yeah, I know what you mean. There was all this hype and build up, and it just fell flat for the "And now you'll have to wait until October" part. I still put my email in--just can't resist these things--but I was hoping for more from the announcement.

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  2. I think I must be the only person in the whole world who hasn't caught the Harry Potter fever LOL Should I admit that in public? :S I will have the Harry Potter police after me :D

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  3. Can't wait to read the ebooks.... so excited!

    Angie
    XOXO Angela's Anxious Life

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