JK Rowling to write novel for adults

FIVE years after penning her final Harry Potter novel, JK Rowling has changed publishers and written a new book – for adults.The title and publication date will be confirmed later this year, but speculation is mounting that it will be a crime novel.

The Edinburgh author’s new editor has built a career working with leading writers in the genre.

Rowling – whose saga of boy wizard Harry became an international publishing sensation, led to eight major films, and built her a reported £500 million fortune – said her new novel would be “very different” to the books that made her name.

The Harry Potter series was published by Bloomsbury, which paid Rowling a £3,000 advance for her first book, and by children’s publisher Scholastic in the US. But the new novel will be issued in both countries by Little, Brown, publishers of Stephanie Meyer and her best-selling teen vampire series Twilight.

Rowling said: “The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher.

“I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life.”

Details about the book remain a closely guarded secret by an author, who has fought to protect her and her family’s privacy and has a taste for surprises.

But her editor at Little, Brown is David Shelley, who has worked with crime writers such as Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Alex Gray and Patricia Cornwell.

Mr Shelley said he was “thrilled, honoured and proud” to be working with Rowling, which was a “personal and professional dream come true”.

“She is one of the best storytellers in the world, and I am looking forward enormously to helping bring her new novel for adults to her fans and admirers, and to introducing her writing to new readers the world over,” he said.

Rowling, who is said to be a fan of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, started out as a single mother writing in Edinburgh cafes, and is said to have finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – the last in the series – on 11 January, 2007, in a suite at the city’s Balmoral Hotel.

The new book is certain to be an international publishing sensation, although children’s authors as far back as AA Milne have struggled to switch successfully into adult fiction.

Fellow Edinburgh author Ian Rankin first hinted years ago that Rowling was writing crime fiction. He wrote on Twitter yesterday: “Wouldn’t it be funny if JK Rowling’s first novel for adults turned out to be a crime story set in Edinburgh? My word yes.”

“I just think it’s a really interesting development, and also I’m intrigued that she’s gone to Little, Brown, to a very distinguished editor who has a strong background in crime and thriller publishing,” said Scottish literary agent Jenny Brown.

Gray, who worked on eight books with Mr Shelley, said: “He is very incisive, but he also has a very, very light touch and a real appreciation for the beauties in prose.”

The director of the Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature project said: “Anything with JK Rowling’s name on will sell. It will be really interesting to see how she makes that transition from a kids’ market to an adult market. I’d love it if she set something in Edinburgh.”