J.K. Rowling, the author with the magic touch

And this seven year phenomenon shows no sign of waning. 

“Half-Blood Prince” is expected to out-sell the fastest selling hardback in history, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” 

“Harry Potter five was the largest product release ever in the history of Amazon.com,” says Jan Baker-Strand of Amazon.com.  “And it was nearly double the size of Harry Potter four.” 

That’s why for book six, Potter’s publisher, Scholastic, ordered a printing of 10.8 million copies, the largest first printing of any book ever.

Couric: You’ve said the opening chapter of this book has been brewing in your mind for 13 years.

Rowling:   It has, yeah. You find out a lot more back story, really a lot. Harry finds out a lot more about the past which hopefully will be useful to him in the future. You see, I’m even measuring what I’m saying because I can see it written on fan sites, with them analyzing what I’ve just said, and thinking “What does this mean?”  But you know, you could go a little bit mad.

Her paranoia is justified. Spoiler sites and stolen book pages have plagued previous installments. So, in the months leading up to book six’s release, binderies both home and abroad were forced to take extraordinary security measures to make sure Harry’s secrets were safe.

Couric:  There were basically armed guards everywhere.  People had to wear ID badges.  And one employee joked that as of yet there had not been a body cavity search.

Rowling: No you wouldn’t want it in a body cavity. This is a big book. 

Still, rumors were rampant the manuscript had leaked, especially after betting Web sites based in Britain were taking odds on whether or not Harry’s headmaster Dumbledore was doomed.  For those of you who haven’t read the book yet, we won’t spill the beans. 

Rowling:  They think Dumbeldore’s a goner. Well, I will say that I have actually never said that a major character is going to die.

Couric: So it’s not true?

Rowling: I’m not saying that. 

But even Jo couldn’t have conjured up this Potter plot: Last month, two men were arrested for allegedly trying to sell a stolen book to a British tabloid. British police confirm one of them was charged with possession of a firearm.

Slide show   Harry Potter mania! Fans pack bookstores around the world to buy the sixth book about the boy wizard's adventures.

Couric:  Do you ever feel like the world has gone mad?

Rowling: Has gone insane?  Yeah, absolutely.  I mean ultimately what is this?  It’s a kid’s book.  And I mean obviously it’s my life.  I mean I’ve worked very hard on it.  But 15 years ago, if someone had said “You know yeah, you’ll publish it, it will be popular, and they’ll be guns involved.”  I think it’s just— it’s surreal isn’t it?

Meanwhile, Rowling’s money keeps... well, rolling in. 

Never mind the books, the first three Harry Potter movies have grossed over $2.5 billion. And the fourth film, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” comes to theaters this fall.

Couric: I know that you’re very modest about your success.  On the other hand, I read, Jo, that you are one of four self-made female billionaires in the world—

Rowling: Billionaires? 

Couric: No, is that wrong? 

Rowling: It’s okay— well— You feel really sorry for me, I’m not a billionaire, what a tragedy.  

Couric: Well—

Rowling: No, this about that figure came from Forbes Magazine.

Couric: Right. 

Rowling: And I have been told that they are speculating on all possible future earnings, all past earnings.  And, frankly, they’re adding figures together that don’t exist.  So I am not a billionaire.  I’ve got plenty of money, more money than I ever dreamed I would have.  But I am not a billionaire.

Couric: So the b-word does not apply?

Rowling: No, not at all.  But if we assume that they’ve inflated the other women similarly.  So, you know, relatively speaking, I’m doing okay.  

But Rowling hasn’t forgotten what is was like before she became synonymous with fame and fortune— less than a decade ago, when the only checks coming in to her house were welfare checks.

Rowling: Last year, when I was pregnant with Mackenzie, Neil and I were on the other side of Edinburgh. And we were very near the flat in which I finished writing "Philosopher’s Stone."  I hadn’t been back there since I had left it and moved to a new house.  And I said to Neil, “Let’s go around the corner, this is where I used to live.” 

And when I clapped eyes on the place, I burst into tears. I couldn’t stop crying.  For a moment, I was back where I had been all those years ago. It brought back this tidal wave of emotion.  And I think it hit me so hard how life had changed.  And in all respects, how wonderful it was.

And I’m standing there and I’m looking at this place and I’m thinking, it was almost like, I would see the ghost of myself standing in the window and I would be able to communicate to that person, “It’s all going to be okay. You know, you’re working so hard, and it will be okay.  And it will be more than okay, it will be fabulous.” I will never forget how it felt to go back there.  

While Rowling understands everyone loves a rags-to-riches story, she says “happily ever after” is not automatically her epilogue.

Rowling:  This was something that I always had difficulty with expressing when it had all just happened to me, and everyone wanted my emotions to be very simple.  They wanted me to say, “I was poor and I was unhappy, and now I’ve got money and I’m really happy.” And it’s what we all want to see when the quiz winner wins the big prize, you know.  You want to see some jumping up and down, for everything to be very uncomplicated.  The fact is, I was living a very pure life. There was no press involvement, there was no pressure. Life was very pure and it became more complicated.

Jo told us, she’s already begun writing book seven— the one in which she will bring the Harry Potter saga to its climactic end. 

Couric:  If you, God forbid, got hit by a bus...

Rowling: Yeah, it’s perfectly possible, I’m a very distracted person. 

Couric: Does anybody know your ideas for book seven?

Rowling: No. 

Couric: Nobody?  Not a soul?

Rowling: No. 

Couric: Not Neil?

Rowling: I wouldn’t tell— Neil would forget.  You know, he wouldn’t be a good person to tell anyway.  No, no one knows.  Which is good, because if I do get hit by a bus, I would really hate to think someone else was going to take over.  It’s my baby.

And as she looks forward to a literary life beyond Harry Potter, Jo says she will savor her final journey aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Couric: When you finish it, and obviously you have a lot of work ahead of you, are you going to be sad or—

Rowling: Yeah. It’s going to be really emotional to say goodbye. I’m going to find it very difficult.  But it must be done, it must be done.  It’s been a fabulous ride, but you have to know when to get off, and I know when to get off, and it will be the end of book seven. 

Couric:  Terrifying, though, to think about what you’ll do next—

Rowling:   No, liberating.  Definitely. Yeah.  It is. The world is my oyster.  I can do whatever I like.

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