Category: Let's talk
POTTERMORE
You may have recently noticed a number of owls on various websites leading you to a YouTube film, where I have announced my latest, exciting piece of news.
POTTERMORE is a new web site, where you can enjoy an online experience based around the Harry Potter books, which includes exclusive new information from me.
www.pottermore.com
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=109
The Pottermore press release follows.
J.K. Rowling today, Thursday 23rd June, answered mounting speculation about the nature of her new project and announced Pottermore, a unique and free-to-use website which builds an exciting online experience around the reading of her hugely successful Harry Potter books, and is partnered by Sony.
The announcement today was heralded by the revealing of the website's name via an online search for its letters, and a coming soon holding page which received over a million visits within 36 hours of launching.
For this groundbreaking collaborative project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places and objects in the much-loved stories, which will inform, inspire and entertain readers as they journey through the storylines of the books. Pottermore will later incorporate an online shop where people can purchase exclusively the long-awaited Harry Potter eBooks, in partnership with J.K. Rowling's publishers worldwide, and is ultimately intended to become an online reading experience, extending the relevance of Harry Potter to new generations of readers, while still appealing to existing fans. As the Pottermore Shop develops, it is intended that it should include further products designed specifically for Harry Potter fans, offering a potential outlet for Sony products and services related to Pottermore. In keeping with Harry Potter's international appeal, the site will launch in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with more languages to follow.
In the new website, the storyline will be brought to life with sumptuous newly-commissioned illustrations and interactive Moments' through which you can navigate, starting with the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone. On entering, you choose a magic username and begin your experience. As you move through the chapters, you can read and share exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling, and, just as Harry joins Hogwarts, so can you. You visit Diagon Alley, get sorted into a house, cast spells and mix potions to help your house compete for the House Cup.
At a press conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Rowling revealed some key features of the website. In an announcement which will thrill fans, she described how she has brought to life both the Sorting Hat and Ollivanders experiences from her books for the first time on Pottermore, by revealing the questions asked by the Sorting Hat - which places newcomers into their Hogwarts houses according to their characteristics - and the magic behind the Wand Chooser" which finds the right wand for each user from over 33,000 possible combinations. She also revealed glimpses of the new information she has provided on some of the best-loved characters.
J.K. Rowling's announcement on YouTube and sony.com today revealed that Pottermore (along with the Pottermore Shop) will be open to all users in October 2011. From today, 23rd June, fans can submit their email addresses on Pottermore.com in order to be contacted by the site following the opening of registration on 31st July, Harry's birthday. Also on that date, an online challenge will be launched, whereby the first million people to complete their registration will gain early entry into the website, and help put final touches to the experience.
J.K. Rowling commented,
"I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation. I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to shape Pottermore as I have. Just as I have contributed to the website, everyone else will be able to join in by submitting their own comments, drawings and other content in a safe and friendly environment." Pottermore has been designed as a place to share the stories with your friends as you journey through the site."�
Pottermore has been made possible with the support and partnership of Sony.
Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sony Corporation, commented:
"Sony's association with J.K. Rowling's Pottermore brings together one of the world's most innovative brands with the most successful book series in history, in a pioneering partnership that will help shape the future of story-telling. We are proud to be a part of it, both at this momentous announcement, and as we collaborate on its development over the coming years."�
On Sony's partnership of Pottermore, J.K. Rowling commented:
"As I think people know, I am very protective of Harry and have always been very selective with any new initiatives, but I am totally committed to making this partnership with Sony and this wonderful new website a success. There are many companies I could have worked with on this ultimate digital expression of Harry Potter's universe, but it is Sony's unique philosophy of creativity in harmony with technology that made them my first choice as main partner. The spirit behind Sony's make.believe philosophy is one that rings true with Pottermore's own values."�
The detailed creative execution has been led by TH_NK, a leading UK digital agency, under the supervision of J.K. Rowling and the Pottermore management team, in co-operation with Sony. J.K. Rowling's publishers, Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the USA, as well as her international publishers worldwide, have been active supporters in the creation of pottermore.com and the Pottermore Shop. Warner Bros, the makers of the hugely successful Harry Potter film franchise, is also one of the partners who have worked to support the launch of Pottermore through a variety of marketing, promotional and other efforts, and will continue to collaborate as the project grows.
The storyline of the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will go live on the site in early 2012. The Pottermore Shop opens when the site opens to all in October, selling complete ranges of the eBooks and digital audiobooks in a selection of languages, exclusively.
Designed for fans of all ages, the website has been created with child safety in mind, employing best practice and compliance with internet codes of practice in the UK, Europe and USA, and elsewhere.
7 books, 7 days, 7 chances
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted the hidden link in our ‘You ask, we answer’blog post from
19 July, which took you to an interviewJ.K. Rowling gave in 2000.
In that interview was some interesting information about a Magical Quill, located in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Magical Quill detects the birth of a magical child and writes their name down in a large book. Every year, Professor McGonagall checks the book and sends owls to the children who are turning eleven, to inform them that they have a place at Hogwarts.
Each day for seven days, from 31 July to 6 August, we will be placing a clue on the Pottermore homepage to help you locate The Magical Quill. If you find it, you’ll have the chance to gain early access to Pottermore.
There will be a new clue every day, and each clue will relate to a different book in the Harry Potter series. On Day 1 the clue will relate to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, on Day 2 the clue will relate to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and so forth. The clues will also vary in difficulty. On Days 1-3 the clues will be harder, and on Days 4-7 the clues will be easier.
To find The Magical Quill, you need to solve the clue and add the answer to the end of the web address http://quill.pottermore.com/ This will lead you to a website where The Magical Quill will be located while early access places are available. The Magical Quill’s location will change every day.
Example:
Clue: How many books are there in the Harry Potter series? Multiply this number by 10.
Answer: 70
Add this number to the end of the website address. (In this case it would be
http://quill.pottermore.com/70)
Hit ‘Return’ to go to the website where The Magical Quill is located.
Once you have found The Magical Quill, you will be redirected to Pottermore.com. If the registration process is still open for that day, you will be able to submit your details to register to access Pottermore early.
It’s important to note that finding The Magical Quill does not guarantee you access to registration, as registration will only remain open while the early access places allocated for the relevant day are available.
Don’t worry if you don’t manage to register first time. There will be plenty of opportunities to find The Magical Quill as we will be revealing a new clue each day from 31 July to 6 August. For those who miss out on early access to Pottermore, please note the site will be open to all from October. Keep visiting Pottermore to find out when registration commences.
We won’t be telling you when a clue goes live, so you’ll need to keep a careful eye on Pottermore.com over the seven-day period. However, we will let you know, via Pottermore.com and the Insider, when registration for a particular day has come to an end.
Finally, we will not be enabling early access to the site straight away. Once The Magical Quill challenge is over, we will send successful early access registrants a Welcome email, letting them know when they will be able to access Pottermore. We won’t be able to let everyone into the Beta site at the same time, so please be patient with us. You may have to wait a few weeks for your Welcome email to arrive.
For more information about The Magical Quill and early registration for Pottermore please visit the Help sectionof Pottermore.com.
Yay I got in today!
I did too. Now all I have to do is wait for a welcome letter. I'm excited.
I still have not received my welcome email yet. They're sending out emails to people every day.
You can follow Pottermore on twitter for updates.
I finally got my email today! :)
I'm very interested to see how this type of site will bring life to this series. I'm a little worried too. I'm glad its relevance is being extended. Anything that keeps people actually "reading" makes me happy.
I finally got mine a little while ago today. I don't really understand how this sites supposed to work. Um ... being sorted into different houses Where does that happen, etc.
You have to go through each chapter in order like you were reading the book. Sometimes there's just stuff for you to read and sometimes you have to collect objects that will be put in your trunk for later. I already got my wand and got sorted into Gryffindor. I think its easier to play the game on the iPhone instead of on the computer but that's just my opinion.
How accessible is it?
ah, I see. sounds like fun. Can you interact with oehter people on there? That part, I have yet to figure out. I see a linnk that says something like, "keep track of what your friends are up to," but noone has added me that I know yet.
If you want to add me I'll send you a private message with my username.
ah, it's a game, you know? I don't have time, for it, I have something called college and a life, so no thanks, I'll do a assimulation of other realistic books but not this.
i can wait to beable to register it its going to be so cool for a harry potter fan like myself
Yeah, how accessible is it? And I have to wait til oct 31 cause I missed the early entry challenge!
I think its more accessible with the iPhone, except for the spells which require flash.
Oh, I dont have an iphone... Darn!
I keep checking back periodically, just did now, and it keeps saying it's still in beta.
The spells require flash? That's rediculous!