JK Rowling obsession may see exodus of authors from Bloomsbury

London, April 25 : Leading authors of Bloomsbury, the publishing house behind the Harry Potter phenomenon, are leaving the hardback publisher, because of one common reason - JK Rowling.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Joanna Trollope, the best-selling writer known as the Queen of the Aga Saga, is leaving Bloomsbury for a rival publishing company, Transworld.

And sources say that Trollope and some fellow authors are upset by Bloomsbury's apparent obsession with the Harry Potter author.

Bloomsbury has made a fortune from the hugely successful Harry Potter books, and accordingly Rowling is treated like a princess. This has caused dissent among some of the authors of the publisher.

Trollope is leaving the company after complaining that Nigel Newton, the chief executive, and his management team have become preoccupied with satisfying the City and shareholders, and claims they are no longer interested in fully promoting any authors except Rowling.

She is said to be impressed with the way Transworld has absorbed the publishing phenomenon of Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code, while still marketing its other authors successfully.

Other popular authors at Bloomsbury include William Boyd, Susan Hill, Peter Carey and Will Self.

"They should publish one final book called Harry Potter and the Poisoned Chalice," the Telegraph quoted an author, as saying.

One agent who has several top writers with Bloomsbury, and who did not want to be named, said: "There are things about Bloomsbury that are wonderful, but they have lost their way a bit."

"When you have such an overwhelming success as Harry Potter it does sort of derail other things. There is a definite feeling that the Harry Potter phenomenon has led to other authors being neglected somewhat," the agent added.

Rowling's success has exceeded Bloomsbury's wildest dreams since she published her first book in 1997, and spawned a 7 billion pounds industry.

But some of its authors claim that success has gone to the publisher's head and that they have spent millions on celebrity books while ignoring their old stable.

However, Joel Rickett, the deputy editor of The Bookseller said Bloomsbury could not be blamed for the way it had handled the Rowling phenomenon.

"Harry Potter is a book that would have changed any publisher. Bloomsbury was a relatively small firm and Harry inevitably transformed its fortunes," he said.

"But, given the level of success it had with Harry, Bloomsbury has made a lot of noise about its other authors and has done remarkably well across a range of genres," he added.

ANI