I watched an interview with J.K. Rowling, and the interviewer found it hard to believe that she didn’t know Harry Potter would be such a huge success.
The interviewer kept on asking how Rowling envisioned what it would be like to get famous, but she kept denying any visions of grandeur. “You are wasting your time,” she said at last when asked for advice to writers who are sure they’re destined for the top, “Just get on and work.”
When we start writing, it’s easy to imagine our stories becoming bestsellers, adapted into blockbuster movies, and gaining widespread acclaim. But fantasies don’t finish drafts. The path to becoming a successful writer is paved with hard work, determination, and the willingness to face the challenges head-on.
who caree what hateful jk has to say anymore.
Not to mention, she literally had nothing to do with HP’s success as a franchise - that was down to her publisher and the marketing the publisher did. There’s 100 books a year published that are as good or better than HP’s first book, but they just won’t have the combination of good marketing and publisher support that HP had.
I also find it meaningless to ask successful people how they became successful, because there’s always a strong element of luck and random chance. Not only can a person only catch lightning in a bottle once, but they can’t instruct someone else how to do it.
If they could, we’d all be successful.
Holy shit, the crab bucket mentality here is off the wall. I haven’t read them myself, but do you really think marketing is the reason her books are so insanely popular?
Especially since her books are popular with one of the most cynical and marketing wary groups of people in existence.
When you name the only Asian character in the book “Cho Chang” and the only black person “Shacklebolt”, the writing itself really isn’t good.