This may be old hat to some of you - and embarassing for me if it is - but I just bought in the new Harry Potter covers for November today and was made aware of two astonishing facts;
1. That there are new Harry Potter covers. Apparently this has been news since March, but I managed to miss it.
They are VERY beautiful! I am personally very attached to the old covers on a sentimental front, but objectively they are rubbish - especially the Deathly Hallows one. The new ones are much more dressed down, a little less childish and very, very gorgeous!
You can see all of them on the Bloomsbury website (you'll need to search for 'harry potter') - I haven't been able to find them elsewhere online.
My insider publishing gossip is that JK Rowling apparently commissioned these covers and they are not just - as news reports are claiming - an attempt by Bloomsbury to rejuvenate the franchise. I'd stake a lot on that being true, which secretly makes me happy.
2. That they are permanently replacing the old covers in paperback. As in, the dodgy, wonderful, frequently disputed covers that I grew up with won't exist anymore! I have to laugh at myself for getting sentimental about an everyday reality of publishing, but never the less...
So, like it or not, squee or cry, it's goodbye forever to these guys... *removes hat sadly*
Ooooh, those are nice. My (incomplete) collection is half US covers and half UK ones, so this might be an excellent excuse to treat myself to the lot! I love your insider info.
ReplyDeleteOn a semi related note, remind me to tell you about the children's book illustrators christmas show at Chris Beetles every Christmas. Well, I guess I just did.
That Deathly Hallows cover is pretty bad. We have different covers in the U.S., some of them I like more than your versions, some of them I like less.
ReplyDeleteThose new covers are beautiful. If they're discontinuing the old covers, does that mean they'll go up in value? Like in 50 years they'll be collector items? Though probably enough people own them right now that they wouldn't be worth too much anyway.
Em: Wow, thank you! I must check that out this year!
ReplyDeleteEleni: I'm not a wild fan of the US covers, but some are, as you say, better than the UK alternatives. Really, the Deathly Hallows one was so bad that I very nearly bought the adult cover on the day...
I would imagine that, given time, mint condition copies of the current covers will increase in value - but since there are millions of them floating around at the moment, it will probably still be the first print runs that are worth the big bucks.
I'm not a huge fan of the US covers, I like the UK ones better - but I love the style of this new one you posted. I had no idea... and I will need them.
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