J.K. Rowling named Bookseller 101st
J.K. Rowling has become the first author to be made The Bookseller 101st, the entry regarded as their de facto “person of the year”, who stood out more than any other on their 100 list in 2016 for having a profound effect on the industry as a whole.
The Bookseller credits J.K. Rowling with increasing the trade of her publishers’ business and that of booksellers; her spearheading of new business models; and the way in which her work has spilled out widely
to the world at large, as the reasons for her appointment.
2016 was a busy year for J.K. Rowling, seeing the opening of the stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, in July, and the Wizarding World returning to big screens last November with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Yet print editions of her work remain at the heart of what she does, with script and screenplay editions of both works topping the bestseller lists, as well as the publication of new editions of the original Harry Potter series, with illustrated works by Jim Kay.
Pottermore, Rowling’s e-commerce website, saw success too, including its audiobooks remaining in the Top 20 of Audible’s Audio Download list since their release last November.
As the Bookseller states, J.K. Rowling’s capacity to achieve and influence within the industry comes from her ability to stretch across cultural and multi-media platforms – something attributed to the astute brand management by J.K.Rowling and her team.
