How Rowling Dumped Lit Agent Chris Little
Sirius Black
her book agent disappear
It is no coincidence that both J. K. Rowling and Emma Watson shed a
tear on the red carpet at Thursday’s premiere of the eighth and final
Harry Potter film in Leicester Square.
For both of them, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
represented a very emotional farewell.
Watson and her red carpet co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint,
of course, knew that the opening night meant that they had effectively
‘graduated’ from Hogwarts Academy after ten years of a hugely
successful franchise that transformed their lives and careers – from
unknown children to international stars.
JK Rowling has cast aside her literary associate Christopher Little
Christopher Little has been ditched by JK Rowling
Not needed: JK Rowling has cast aside her literary agent Christopher
Little, who has been at her side since the start of the Harry Potter
journey
But the question nobody dared ask was why Rowling herself might be so
upset. After all, the night should have been her ultimate triumph: the
crowning glory of the Potter film and publishing phenomenon that has
seen her become literature’s first dollar billionaire.
It should also have been the ideal springboard for her next venture,
the interactive website Pottermore.
So were Rowling’s tears due to the absence of the man who spotted her
potential when she was a penniless single mother who could have
papered her tiny flat with rejection slips – and went on to pilot her
rise to fame and fortune?
At all the previous Potter premieres, Rowling’s literary agent
Christopher Little had brushed off his tuxedo and cut a quiet, if
imposing, figure in the background. With his white hair and bushy
eyebrows, he wasn’t hard to spot.
But as the crowds gathered in Leicester Square last week, Little was
six miles away in Fulham, brooding over the large wooden desk that
dominates his cramped office.
There, surrounded by the teetering piles of first editions and unread
manuscripts that give the room a rather Dickensian air, the
71-year-old sat reading and re-reading the letter informing him that
he had been dumped as Rowling’s agent after 16 years.
Friends say Little is now a broken man. ‘It has devastated him,’ one
of them told The Mail on Sunday.
‘Chris is distraught and desperately trying to work out what went
wrong. He has been with her from the beginning and now feels betrayed
and abandoned at a time when his health has not been very good. He
just doesn’t know how it has come to this.’
It was just over a week ago that Little received the news that his
services were no longer required by the woman to whom he had always
been fiercely loyal and protective.
His curt dismissal letter did not even come from Rowling herself. It
was sent by Little’s business partner and company lawyer Neil Blair,
stating that he was leaving to start his own literary agency – and
taking Rowling with him.
James Rau
<Emailaar...@countermail.invalid> wrote:
I have little sympathy for Mr. Little. From the cited article:
"Her peremptory dismissal of the person who has guided her career and
made her a £500 million fortune – acquiring a smaller one for himself
in the process – appears somewhat graceless."
and,
"He earned 15 percent of Rowling’s gross earnings for the UK market
and 20 percent for merchandising rights for film, for the US market
and for translation deals."
Mr. Little must be crying all the way to the bank. It seems to me that
he did very well by J.K. Rowling...
James Rau
Sirius Black
> I have little sympathy for Mr. Little.
The article came from the Daily Mail (UK) known for its sleazy
coverage. I have no idea if Rowling screwed this guy over or not. My
bet is "Yes" and we all know you, Rau, that you spend half your life
running interference for Rowling.
VD
Certainly he did, James, if money is the only measure.
From what I read in numerous articles, Mr. Little was shown the door
in a rather rude, immediate and ungracious manner. This ungraciousness
spills over to Ms. Rowling's staff who comments that Mr. Little's
abandonment "was not taken without good reason" and had become
"unavoidable".
There is no need for that style of razor sharp, personal attack, why
not tender the man his white slip and leave it at that?
Ms. Rowling has a dark side - don't we all - I am surprised that she
lowered herself to show it so prominently.
--
http://harrypotterforseekers.com/alchemy/alchemy.php
<http://www.rosecroixjournal.org/resources/documents/chymical_wedding.pdf>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/harrypotterforseekers/messages?o=1
Yellow
EMAILSeekin...@rocketmail.comHERE says...
>
> On Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:57:37 -0700, James Rau wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 9 Jul 2011 18:12:12 -0400, Sirius Black
> > <Emailaar...@countermail.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >><http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012997/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-dismissed-Dumbledore-How-author-book-agent-disappear.html>
> >
> > I have little sympathy for Mr. Little. From the cited article:
> >
> > "Her peremptory dismissal of the person who has guided her career and
> > in the process ? appears somewhat graceless."
> >
> > and,
> >
> > "He earned 15 percent of Rowling?s gross earnings for the UK market
> > and 20 percent for merchandising rights for film, for the US market
> > and for translation deals."
> >
> > Mr. Little must be crying all the way to the bank. It seems to me that
> > he did very well by J.K. Rowling...
> >
> > James Rau
>
> Certainly he did, James, if money is the only measure.
>
> From what I read in numerous articles, Mr. Little was shown the door
> in a rather rude, immediate and ungracious manner. This ungraciousness
> spills over to Ms. Rowling's staff who comments that Mr. Little's
> abandonment "was not taken without good reason" and had become
> "unavoidable".
>
> There is no need for that style of razor sharp, personal attack, why
> not tender the man his white slip and leave it at that?
>
> Ms. Rowling has a dark side - don't we all - I am surprised that she
> lowered herself to show it so prominently.
Newspapers print tosh and choosing to believe it is, to be polite,
pretty stupid.
Sirius Black
> In article <ivcf45$ndn$1...@dont-email.me>,
> EMAILSeekin...@rocketmail.comHERE says...
>>
>> On Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:57:37 -0700, James Rau wrote:
>>
>>> On Sat, 9 Jul 2011 18:12:12 -0400, Sirius Black
>>> <Emailaar...@countermail.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>><http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012997/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-dismissed-Dumbledore-How-author-book-agent-disappear.html>
>>>
>>> I have little sympathy for Mr. Little. From the cited article:
>>>
>>> "Her peremptory dismissal of the person who has guided her career and
>>> made her a �500 million fortune ? acquiring a smaller one for himself
>>> in the process ? appears somewhat graceless."
>>>
>>> and,
>>>
>>> "He earned 15 percent of Rowling?s gross earnings for the UK market
>>> and 20 percent for merchandising rights for film, for the US market
>>> and for translation deals."
>>>
>>> Mr. Little must be crying all the way to the bank. It seems to me that
>>> he did very well by J.K. Rowling...
>>>
>>> James Rau
>>
>> Certainly he did, James, if money is the only measure.
>>
>> From what I read in numerous articles, Mr. Little was shown the door
>> in a rather rude, immediate and ungracious manner. This ungraciousness
>> spills over to Ms. Rowling's staff who comments that Mr. Little's
>> abandonment "was not taken without good reason" and had become
>> "unavoidable".
>>
>> There is no need for that style of razor sharp, personal attack, why
>> not tender the man his white slip and leave it at that?
>>
>> Ms. Rowling has a dark side - don't we all - I am surprised that she
>> lowered herself to show it so prominently.
>
> Newspapers print tosh and choosing to believe it is, to be polite,
> pretty stupid.
Then why don't you enlighten us as to which is which? Since you know
and all. lol
VD
> In article <ivcf45$ndn$1...@dont-email.me>,
> EMAILSeekin...@rocketmail.comHERE says...
>>
>> On Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:57:37 -0700, James Rau wrote:
>>
>>> On Sat, 9 Jul 2011 18:12:12 -0400, Sirius Black
>>> <Emailaar...@countermail.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>><http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012997/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-dismissed-Dumbledore-How-author-book-agent-disappear.html>
>>>
>>> I have little sympathy for Mr. Little. From the cited article:
>>>
>>> "Her peremptory dismissal of the person who has guided her career and
>>> made her a £500 million fortune ? acquiring a smaller one for himself
>>> in the process ? appears somewhat graceless."
>>>
>>> and,
>>>
>>> "He earned 15 percent of Rowling?s gross earnings for the UK market
>>> and 20 percent for merchandising rights for film, for the US market
>>> and for translation deals."
>>>
>>> Mr. Little must be crying all the way to the bank. It seems to me that
>>> he did very well by J.K. Rowling...
>>>
>>> James Rau
>>
>> Certainly he did, James, if money is the only measure.
>>
>> From what I read in numerous articles, Mr. Little was shown the door
>> in a rather rude, immediate and ungracious manner. This ungraciousness
>> spills over to Ms. Rowling's staff who comments that Mr. Little's
>> abandonment "was not taken without good reason" and had become
>> "unavoidable".
>>
>> There is no need for that style of razor sharp, personal attack, why
>> not tender the man his white slip and leave it at that?
>>
>> Ms. Rowling has a dark side - don't we all - I am surprised that she
>> lowered herself to show it so prominently.
>
> Newspapers print tosh and choosing to believe it is, to be polite,
> pretty stupid.
Yellow, good to hear from you regardless of your obviously negative
overtone ;)
Note I wrote "numerous articles" which included blogs, forum posts,
magazine articles and, yes, newspapers. There are common threads in
each and one is of how Ms. Rowling handled this measure.
Most of these sources chose to take only the facts as they were haded
them by Rowling et al and by the Little Agency. Could there have been
gross misinterpretation across the board - universally - by so many
sources? Why yes indeed!
But as a gambling man, I suggest the odds are that they have the odds
on Ms. Rowling in this matter.
Btw, if "being stupid" is a polite gesture, what would be considered
"impolite"...in your world. ;>)
Chan Welbourne
> and,
> James Rau
Little made big bucks. He got paid his worth. Standard fees, he
couldn't make the swing to digital, that's all so out the door he went.
:-?
James Rau
<Emailaar...@countermail.invalid> wrote:
>> I have little sympathy for Mr. Little.
>
>The article came from the Daily Mail (UK) known for its sleazy
>coverage. I have no idea if Rowling screwed this guy over or not. My
>bet is "Yes" and we all know you, Rau, that you spend half your life
>running interference for Rowling.
Bullshit. If you've read any of my posts, then you would know that my
criticism of Rowling's writing ability (and storytelling) has been, at
times, rather harsh.
And you would do better than spend half your life making ad hominem
attacks. Try some logic and reason.
James Rau
Sirius Black
You're lying but why in the world would I waste a moments time on
*your* Usenet reputation? Collect the data and present it here, Troll,
heal thyself.
Chan Welbourne
> James Rau
James you find nothing wrong with the way JKR split with Chris Little?
James Rau
<blea...@mume.invalid> wrote:
>James you find nothing wrong with the way JKR split with Chris Little?
What I'm saying is that one must consider the source for this
so-called article, especially if it's published by a news rag known
for its yellow journalism.
Still, IMHO, even if half of what was written in the article was true,
both parties acted childish and stupidly. Really, what was Mr. Little
expecting? To be made a full partner? He's a literary agent and
managed to place JKR's first book with a publisher. That's his job,
and in the long run, did well by the author.
Please don't think that I'm letting JKR off the hook. Does JRK owe
Little an apology? Yes. Mr. Little's dismissal should have been kept
private and confidential. Ms. Rowling's staff, as well as Ms. Rowling
herself, need to learn something about professional courtesy. A
simple, "No comment", would have sufficed.
If anything, both parties could have claimed "artistic differences"
and left it at that...
James Rau
Chan Welbourne
> On Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:55:10 -0400, "Chan Welbourne"
> <blea...@mume.invalid> wrote:
>> James you find nothing wrong with the way JKR split with Chris Little?
> Still, IMHO, even if half of what was written in the article was true,
> both parties acted childish and stupidly. Really, what was Mr. Little
> expecting? To be made a full partner? He's a literary agent and
> managed to place JKR's first book with a publisher. That's his job,
> and in the long run, did well by the author.
I believe he wanted to be treated with a bit more respect not that he
wanted to go on forever.
> Please don't think that I'm letting JKR off the hook. Does JRK owe
> Little an apology? Yes. Mr. Little's dismissal should have been kept
> private and confidential. Ms. Rowling's staff, as well as Ms. Rowling
> herself, need to learn something about professional courtesy. A
> simple, "No comment", would have sufficed.
> If anything, both parties could have claimed "artistic differences"
> and left it at that...
> James Rau
I see we agree with Victor. l-)