Strike! Strike! Leave Ms. Rowling in peace! ::stomp marches around the room carrying a sign:: Strike! Strike!

~

All right, my suspicion is that Ms. Rowling is being overworked. Now, if she isn't, I apologize to her, but not Scholastic, since they bug me so much to the brinking point. :-) This is basically one of hundreds of kids' editorials/rants about Scholastic and other various companies (not to be named).

Now, I heard from a very reliable source that Ms. Rowling is still writing book four. All right, seems fair enough, eh? But the thing is, from the same source, it said the book would be out in January or February.

Oh, man. That's what got me. It can take up to a year to publish a book and she's still writing it? And she's on book tour? Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that seem like a tight schedule? I mean, for Pete's sake, people, Azkaban just came out in September in America and they are already pushing the fourth book into existence in five months at the latest?

I mean, jeez. She has two months tops to finish the book so the typesetting came be done, the printing process can be done, and be out on the shelves in Britain by February?

Let's say, if you were an author, would you like it if you were doing a series, and your editor or whoever the heck comes up to you and says they need the book finished by this date, so the book can be out on this date? For crying out loud! That's a lot of pressure and then, you would have to be on it around the clock so you could get it out on time. Creativity and all sanity (if you ever have any in the first place, mind you) go flying out the window.

THEN, she has a daughter to take care of and she's working on the movie storyboard for crying out loud! For the sake of everything possible, lighten up, people! (People meaning all the people who put pressure on good, kind authors who don't deserve that. ::glares at friends and relatives::)

Let's take a poll. How many of you would rather wait for a good quality book to come from Ms. Rowling, then just see her rush, and finish the series off quickly? I would rather wait a year or more to read any more Harry books then to see her pressured, in any way.

Some people get mad, when authors, say, like K. A. Applegate want to take a vacation or when she gets ghostwriters: "She's abandoning us!" - "What, she thinks she's too good for us now?" - etceteras. Now, I will agree with the thing about ghostwriters and I talk about that subject here.

The fact is, I hate seeing people pressured. Myself, friends, teachers, authors, politicians, the whole bit. I swear to you, I hate it almost as much as violence, ignorance, and prejudice, because, even though I admit that we all must be pressed to do things in our lives, it must not be pressure so that the pressurers get money for it, sell more, get more.

Now, with relevance to publishing purposes, books take a while to publish - may I remind you how long it takes for hardcovers? People like R. L. Stine, Lois Duncan, L. J. Smith, K. A. Applegate - in their series, books far into the future are already done and being typeset, published, cover designs are being created - that takes a while, you might note - and more, and we're thinking, okay, so, the fourth book will be out in January or February and she's not done? WHAT? Are they nuts?

Most likely, she's nearly done, but what about personal editing? Personal problems or duties? Appointments, dates, book tour, story board editing? Are Bloomsbury, Scholastic, and everyone else just oblivious to this?

I hate hearing about it. It's like, jeez, I mean, come off it, people, you're insane! What are you doing to the woman??? Expecting the fourth book to be out, when she's not finished, on tour, doing interviews, caring for her daughter, story board work - it's ludicrous! Absurd!

Jeez. Haven't I said enough? I can't believe someone would do this to anyone! It's stupid, insane, and done right farcical! What are they doing?

In any case, I wish this would stop. In my opinion, and I hope yours, I think it would be better for all of us if she wasn't pelting out the books faster than a hurricane. I was disappointed with Azkaban - it came out nearly months after Chamber did - and I don't see much show for it.

Just take this stinking poll and tell me what you think . . .

Question: Would you rather wait for very good books where Ms. Rowling was not in any way pressured or just have all the books be out next year where you knew she was pressured?