The real reason the books have been so cult like popular is down to her genius marketing and PR team!
2007-02-05 01:09:53 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I only partially agree, the premise is good, if not a little plagiarized, but what literature is not a rehash of old themes. I think Enid Blyton was just as as good in her day but they did not have the mass international marketing or movie potentials of special effects. That's why it took so long to make a credible LOTR movie. Rowling is a mediocre writer in the right place at the right time. Similar to Dan Brown reworking of old fables. Whereas Tolkien was a brilliant writer whose material the movies could only adequately capture with todays technology.
2007-02-05 01:31:17 · answer #1 · answered by kellring 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
You could market a product all you want. If it isn't good, people won't buy it. Look at Crystal Clear, or Blue Rush Pepsi (or whatever that crap was).
PR doesn't have much to do either. Ray Bradbury is stuck up and isn't afraid to let it show. Doesn't change the fact that people love his stuff.
Is she the greatest writer ever? Not by any means. She isn't the greatest of our time. It is a bit of a cheat to have a seven book series. If she puts something in a book only to find it serves no purpose, she can always put it in a later book and make it seem important. Her writing talents won't be fully displayed until July 21, but it is safe to say that she is a talented writer.
Is she a genius? She probably couldn't beat Ken Jennings, if that's what you're asking. A genius businessperson? Yes. While marketing and PR won't make a bad item good, it will make a good item sell great. Genius writer? Maybe. Genius researcher? Very well possible.
Perhaps you should include the names of someone you deem to be genius (if you say Roald Dahl, I'll be your friend for life).
2007-02-05 06:24:56 · answer #2 · answered by fuzzinutzz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No I used to think this until I read the first Harry Potter book. She is a wonderful author and she has a great way of describing things.
What I will say though, is that really these books are just based on "English public schools" with all their various bullies and teachers, which is a very old formula indeed. It is a very OLD FASHIONED genre.
I wouldn't say she is a genius by any means but she is a good writer of children's stories.
2007-02-05 01:22:31 · answer #3 · answered by Not Ecky Boy 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
She's hardly a genius, but she is a good writer (I've read all the books and am on the pre-order list for the new one).
She was smart in hiring the correct agent, who in turn hired the PR/Marketing firms that have made her a household name.
2007-02-05 01:22:19 · answer #4 · answered by Enchanted 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think she's a very good childrens author-but just that!I find it very bizarre the amount of suppossed grown-ups that read those books,they're not exactly mentally stimulating or challenging.She doesn't have a great deal of adult based imagination-or at least in those books she doesn't appear to have,who knows maybe she might have a go at writing for adults next?Then we'll see if she has real talent.You can't judge her just yet on the back of kids books.
2007-02-05 05:28:11 · answer #5 · answered by munki 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
She's no genius, but a very competent writer. She hit the children's book market with the right product at the right time. Her books are eminently easy and simple to read, with a straightforward plot line and don't ask too much of the reader.
2007-02-05 01:16:03 · answer #6 · answered by boojum 3 · 7⤊ 0⤋
She's not a genius and she's not even a very good writer, which shows in her later books. She had a brilliant idea on how to write entertaining books, particularly the first three, but she over extended herself on the Goblet of Fire and subsequest books, which were quite tedious in parts. She needs to write shorter books again.
2007-02-05 02:51:59 · answer #7 · answered by Beau Brummell 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
LOL how many of her books did you read? If you've read her books, you'll realize why everybody thinks she's a genius...the last time a girl told me she hated the Harry Potter books because they were so "commercialized"...lol and she hadn't read a single book...you don't need to be a genius to recognize a good writer or a good story :P and people buy her books because its a SERIES and they want to know what happens next...start reading the first book, go on, we won't tease:D
2007-02-05 02:51:18 · answer #8 · answered by bash_185 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
She's a fantastic writer and that's what I think makes her books sell. If her books weren't well written, they never would have been as popular as they are. Just because she writes good books doesn't mean she's a genius.
Vicky
2007-02-05 08:21:24 · answer #9 · answered by loofahcat2 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
PR and marketing can only get you so far. After that people have to actually like your books and that is why she's where she now is.
2007-02-05 01:25:05 · answer #10 · answered by Stammerman! 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋