JK Rowling, the creator and ruler of the Harry Potter universe, has insisted that she would not allow her popular series to be put into e-book format for a while, but that might be changing soon.
According to the Guardian, there are several reports that Rowling is exploring her options as far as digital publishing goes:
Neil Blair, partner at the Christopher Little Agency which represents Rowling, told book trade magazine the Bookseller last year that Rowling was "actively" looking at "all the options and opportunities" that digital technology offered. But since then there has been no more news, to the frustration of the many fans of both e-reading devices and the schoolboy wizard.
According to the Scotsman report, Rowling is still "actively" looking – but the author's spokesperson insisted there was "nothing more to say". Rowling's print publisher Bloomsbury also said there was no announcement to be made, other than that the latest boxed set, released last autumn, was doing "incredibly well".
It is speculated that if — and hopefully, when — the Harry Potter series hits e-reading devices it'll be a set of "seven guaranteed top-selling ebooks just waiting to happen."
In somewhat related news, the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, is set for release this summer — so for the sake of rabid Harry Potter fans everywhere, we hope that Rowling makes up her mind about e-books by then.
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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's a bit obsessed with Twitter, loves to be liked on Facebook, and has been compared to Hermione Granger far too many times in her life. (She blames that on her frizzy hair.)