JK Rowling very angry at UK legal firm over her ‘pseudonym leak’
20 July 2013 12:00 AM GMT
JK Rowling, celebrated British author of the popular Harry Potter series, has said she is ‘very angry’ after finding out her pseudonym for writing a critically acclaimed crime novel was leaked by a legal firm.
The Harry Potter author was revealed as writing under the false identity of male writer ‘Robert Galbraith’ in penning crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling.
She found out the leak came from law firm Russells, whom she had assumed she ‘could expect total confidentiality from’. ‘I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement,’ she said in a statement. ‘
A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know,’ she said. Russells Solicitors said it apologised ‘unreservedly’.
In a statement, it said the wife of one of its partners, Chris Gossage, had told her best friend, Judith Callegari, that Robert Galbraith was really Rowling, BBC reported. The company said it was revealed ‘during a private conversation’, adding that ‘the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly’. It has been reported Callegari subsequently revealed Rowling’s identity to a Sunday Times journalist via Twitter on 9 July.
‘Whilst accepting (Gossage’s) own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified JK Rowling’s agent,’ Russells said.
There had been speculation leaking the name was part of a publicity campaign.
However Russells said, ‘We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither JK Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved.’
The Cuckoo’s Calling, believed to be the debut novel of Galbraith, tells of war veteran-turned private investigator Cormoran Strike and received good reviews when it was first published. It had sold 1,500 copies before Rowling was revealed as the author, but within hours it rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazon’s sales list. When she was revealed as Galbraith, Rowling said she had found writing under a pseudonym ‘a liberating experience’.
The Harry Potter author was revealed as writing under the false identity of male writer ‘Robert Galbraith’ in penning crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling.
She found out the leak came from law firm Russells, whom she had assumed she ‘could expect total confidentiality from’. ‘I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement,’ she said in a statement. ‘
A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know,’ she said. Russells Solicitors said it apologised ‘unreservedly’.
In a statement, it said the wife of one of its partners, Chris Gossage, had told her best friend, Judith Callegari, that Robert Galbraith was really Rowling, BBC reported. The company said it was revealed ‘during a private conversation’, adding that ‘the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly’. It has been reported Callegari subsequently revealed Rowling’s identity to a Sunday Times journalist via Twitter on 9 July.
‘Whilst accepting (Gossage’s) own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified JK Rowling’s agent,’ Russells said.
There had been speculation leaking the name was part of a publicity campaign.
However Russells said, ‘We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither JK Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved.’
The Cuckoo’s Calling, believed to be the debut novel of Galbraith, tells of war veteran-turned private investigator Cormoran Strike and received good reviews when it was first published. It had sold 1,500 copies before Rowling was revealed as the author, but within hours it rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazon’s sales list. When she was revealed as Galbraith, Rowling said she had found writing under a pseudonym ‘a liberating experience’.
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