JK Rowling, author of Harry Potter, has a new book scam. Rowling decided to trick everyone by writing a novel under a man's name--Robert Galbraith. The results were...well, disappointing.
Whats in a name? Apparently millions of dollars. Just ask Robert Galbraith better known as JK Rowling--the name that appears on the author's license to print money.
It was revealed over the weekend that like a spell out of Hogwarts, J.K Rowling had transformed herself into another person.
Rowling, who has become a household name after the landmark success of her Harry Potter series, has been unmasked as the true identity of crime novelist, Robert Galbraith.
When "Galbraith" published The Cuckoo's Calling back in April, little was known about the supposed first-time writer. The book, despite truely abismle sells, received high praise from critics, some even speculating that the novel was almost too good to be true.
Since Sunday's revelation, The Cuckoo's Calling has been rapidly climbing the charts. Prior to the annoucement, only 1,500 copies of the book sold. But now, the crime novel is number one on various best sellers list and is flying off shelves. It wouldnt be surprising, albeit impossible if ditial copies sold out. After all, the book already tops the itunes book chart.
There is no doubt that if Rowling had penned the story under her own name, it would have been an instant best seller. However, even with the guaranteed commercial success that comes with the Rowling name, the British-born novelist set an impossibly high bar for herself with the beloved Harry Potter books. 2012's The Casual Vacancy, Rowling's first book aimed at an adult audience, was a prime example of this--garnering high sells but mixed reviews.
Rowling had this to say about her use of the gender-bending pseudonym:
“I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name."
A reporter for The Sunday Times uncovered the ruse, after receiving suspicious tweets about the authenticity of the novel. Upon further investigations, the thread began to unravel when it was learned that both high profile writer Rowling and novice Galbraith shared the same editor.
Even though the culprit has been caught, the mystery still lives on, leaving the question--Who sent the telling tweets in the first place? Could this all have been a clever ploy by J.K and her team to boost sells and avoid the high bar she herself set?
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