Last night, news broke that Scholastic’s re-release of the Harry Potter series with new covers will include “bonus material.” This set me thinking about what they could include which might persuade me to pay $100 for books I already own. Here are some of my ideas:
Something Old
It’s common knowledge that J.K. Rowling has boxes and boxes of passages and doodles which never made their way into the book. Some of these have been released on Pottermore and her old website, but there are still lots we’ve never seen. Think of all the chapters and plotlines, which were cut in editing (Dean Thomas’ backstory springs to mind) and most fans would kill to see. Include a few of these in each book and I’d happily buy them all over again. Jo herself said she’s tempted to create a “director’s cut” of some of the books and this could be a great opportunity. Then there are her own pictures of characters and the Wizarding World that would be a welcome addition to the books. I would rather see how J.K Rowling herself sees this world than yet another illustrator.
Something New
As well as the plotlines Rowling has already written but never released, there are thousands of ideas, which are still only in note form. Admittedly, some of these are being released on Pottermore, but many fans still want a printed encyclopaedia. As this doesn’t seem likely any time soon, why not print these back-stories alongside the books themselves. Footnotes could be added throughout the books and at the back of each the new content could be added. This could also be used for “J.K. Rowling’s Thoughts” (my favourite part of Pottermore) giving new and old fans an insight into the writing process of the books.
Something Innovative
This is where these reprints could make themselves really standout. Nearly all forms of printed media are in decline as fans turn towards digital. Although several industries have begun including a free digital download with the purchase of a hard-copy (mainly magazine and comics), books have continued to shy away from this idea. The Harry Potter e-books were released last year on Pottermore with the whole collection costing around $60. With the new box set costing much more than this, many are likely to buy the discounted digital set, which they can read on the go. However, Scholastic could counter this quite easily. Copying what other publishing companies, they could offer a code to download the e-books with a purchase of the new books. There would be more value for money and more incentive to buy the hardcopies again.
These are just a few ideas of what would persuade me to buy the new set, but what would extra content would you like to see in the new set?
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