J. K. Rowling does not write the Harry Potter books

How would the world have changed if J. K. Rowling didn't write the Harry Potter books? I'm guessing they started the modern young adult literature craze and introduced us to several new actors and actresses (Emma Watson for instance).
 
How would the world have changed if J. K. Rowling didn't write the Harry Potter books? I'm guessing they started the modern young adult literature craze and introduced us to several new actors and actresses (Emma Watson for instance).
Nothing else changes, maybe people would care more for the worst witch?
 
Well I wouldn't had such a great first reading experience - it was thought that I was dyslexic for quite some time and only really began to read long children's books when I was 8/9.

I think the Harry Potter series was borderline unique in that it ticked all of the boxes required to be a mega-success - it was a good length both as individual books and as a series, it struck just the right tone, it had a wholesome message (whatever the hysterical ramblings of the Christian right), and it was just about perfectly written, at least until the fifth book and by then it didn't matter, as far as being marketable was concerned. (By which I mean it had a good combination of child and adult content - the entire third of the first book is basically an extended parody of the 1990s British middle class for instance.) I can't honestly think of another children's series that really fits the bill - Percy Jackson and Eragon weren't well written enough, especially the latter and anyway, both were probably dependent on the success of Harry Potter. I think that the best candidate would actually be Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. It has the right style with a mixture of young adult text and adult subtext, is well written and is a reasonable length. Of course the moral guardians will be out in force due to the extreme violence and basically everything to do with Hester Shaw but that probably only helped Harry Potter. Even so, I don't think Mortal Engines would be anywhere near as culturally relevant as Harry Potter due to it being aimed at an older audience and being much grimmer overall.

With regards to the actors - most of the adults already had highly successful careers and wouldn't be that badly affected. Radcliffe was already getting acting roles, I don't know about Watson and Grint, so he might eventually make it big, although possibly on television instead of film. Maybe he'll end up playing Tom Natsworthy in an earlier film adaption of Mortal Engines with Watson as Hester Shaw. :p Likely not, if there was ever a pair of roles that was going to get aged up, it was the Mortal Engines protagonists.

teg
 


There are many more ways to have medium success than high success. I'm sorry, but there are. For high success, it's almost like you need all sevens on the slot machine. No matter how talented you are, a lot of luck and external factors. :p

(I think reaching somewhat similar conclusions, Stephen King decided early on in his career that he would just keep on dropping quarters into the slot machine. But if Stephen had had different main interests, his trajectory of success may have been far more modest)

If she had initially started with books for grown-ups, I wish J.K. all the success in the world, it's just that the odds are stacked against her, just like they are for any writer.
 
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We might have been spared the "Twilight" series. Glittering vampires, omg.
How? They don't correlated each other as twilight was just a trashy romance novel that worked big against the Coming of Age drama was HP. We could get ITTL Twilight become bigger...
 
How? They don't correlated each other as twilight was just a trashy romance novel that worked big against the Coming of Age drama was HP. We could get ITTL Twilight become bigger...

Part of the reason Twilight became so big is because people were looking for the next big thing in young adult literature after the final Harry Potter book was published. No HP; no need to find a replacement for it.
 
Best vampire series, ever: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Saint Germain" series. First novel was "Hotel Transylvania" (although chronologically, it's not first). She's actually put research (for historical periods) and thought (indelicate of me to spell it out) about if vampires can do any penetration beyond their teeth. Rational and historically accurate vampire novels (and short stories).
 
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