# Harry Potter Transatlantic Editing Question (no spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691 "2007-07-30T15:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/1 "2007-07-30T15:34:40Z")
**Please** no spoilers, because I’ve not yet read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (it’s on its way to Atlanta from [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk)). The latest issue of _Entertainment Weekly_ is all about Harry Potter, and among other things, it has interviews with Arthur A. Levine, J.K. Rowling’s American editor with Scholastic, and Cheryl Klein, Levine’s assistant. Speaking of the editing process, Klein said of each manuscript: > [@Entertainment Weekly](#): > > > [@Cheryl Klein](#): > > > > looks like a rainbow > > by the time she and Levine finish their annotations in colored pencils… > > > [@Cheryl Klein](#): > > > > She’ll make any changes she needs to. That’s the _Scholastic_ editors, not the Bloomsbury editors. But Bloomsbury is the books’ original publisher, and presumably the manuscript doesn’t cross the pond until Rowling and Bloomsbury have agreed on its final form for U.K. publication. I would guess Scholastic would want to change all the car “hoods” to “bonnets” and all the “colours” and “humours” to “colors” and “humors,” but really, what more needs to be done to them that would justify a “rainbow” of color-coded corrections? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/2 "2007-07-30T16:49:15Z")
It could be as simple as each editor using a different color pencil or pen, so each person’s comments/marks can be easily distinguished. This is quite common in publishing. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/3 "2007-07-30T17:02:33Z")
[QUOTE=Scarlett67] It could be as simple as each editor using a different color pencil or pen, so each person’s comments/marks can be easily distinguished. This is quite common in publishing. [/QUOTE] You’ve missed my point, which is that the American edition of the book shouldn’t need **any** corrections, beyond changing the spelling to match American orthography (which it still shouldn’t need even in that case, but that’s a different thread). The Bloomsbury people have already (I assume) worked with Rowling to make her original manuscript publishable. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/4 "2007-07-30T17:39:54Z")
I was puzzled by something else that I read in Newsweek. They had an article about editing the book, and the main fact / inconsistency checker (I forget the exact term they used) for Deathly Hallows seems to be based in New York working for Scholastic. There was a mention of her (the fact checker) travelling back to the US with the manuscript in a carry-on. Maybe, due to the size of the American market, Scholastic is now the one looking at the books first? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/5 "2007-07-30T19:21:22Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] I was puzzled by something else that I read in Newsweek. They had an article about editing the book, and the main fact / inconsistency checker (I forget the exact term they used) for Deathly Hallows seems to be based in New York working for Scholastic. There was a mention of her (the fact checker) travelling back to the US with the manuscript in a carry-on. [/QUOTE] Yes, this is all in the Entertainment Weekly article the OP is refering to. It says that Cheryl Klein is the “continuity editor” whose job it has been to make sure there aren’t any continuity errors (in the last couple of books). > [@](#): > > Maybe, due to the size of the American market, Scholastic is now the one looking at the books first? I suspect this is the correct explanation, but I don’t know for sure, and now that the question has been asked, I’m wondering too. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/6 "2007-07-30T19:54:38Z")
Wasn’t there something with the first book, changing “Sorcerer’s Stone” to “Philosopher’s Stone” (or the other way around)? ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/7 "2007-07-30T19:54:40Z")
[See for yourself.](http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/differences.html) This site has a section (scroll down a bit) devoted to the differences between the UK and US editions. You can see for yourself what such differences entail. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/8 "2007-07-30T20:01:30Z")
Your’s hasn’t arrived yet? I got mine (to VA) from [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) on Thursday. I don’t mind them changing the spelling, but I do mind them changing the words. I see no problem with American kids using a book to discover that football might mean something different ina different country, or that not all food is identical all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/9 "2007-07-30T20:12:06Z")
[QUOTE=villa] Your’s hasn’t arrived yet? I got mine (to VA) from [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) on Thursday. [/quote] There was a problem with my pre-order. I should receive it today, tomorrow, or August 1st at the latest. > [@](#): > > I don’t mind them changing the spelling, but I do mind them changing the words. I see no problem with American kids using a book to discover that football might mean something different ina different country, or that not all food is identical all over the world. Exactly! I know that the Canadian editions have almost no differences from the UK editions, and Canadian kids, who are culturally almost identical to American kids, have no trouble dealing with it. See **NoPretentiousCodename** ’s link above. It’s fascinating stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/10 "2007-07-30T23:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sean Factotum] Wasn’t there something with the first book, changing “Sorcerer’s Stone” to “Philosopher’s Stone” (or the other way around)? [/QUOTE] Yes, it’s Philosopher’s Stone in England and Sorcerer’s Stone in the USA. The American editor had suggested Harry Potter and the School of Magic. At least they didn’t make it _tha_t lame! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/11 "2007-07-30T23:58:20Z")
[QUOTE=villa] I got mine (to VA) from [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) on Thursday. [/QUOTE] My Royal Mail envelope showed up in WA on Thursday as well. (Read the book Friday.) ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/12 "2007-07-31T00:57:43Z")
why in the heck WAS the title of the first book changed? The philosopher (Flanel), being a male, wasn’t even a sorceror. Were they afraid that philosophy in the title would make American kids run away, thinking it was education (certainly SCHOOL of magic would!) ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/13 "2007-07-31T01:22:58Z")
From what I recall, **fysoya** , that’s more or less it… publishers thought that the US market wouldn’t understand the term “philosopher’s stone” and changed it to “sorceror”. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/14 "2007-07-31T01:42:08Z")
I heard that it was more the American publishers wanted to make it clear that it was a book about magic. > [@](#): > > The American editor had suggested Harry Potter and the School of Magic. Sounds like a clever ruse to me. Offer up an absolutely awful title, and then JKR would accept any title they suggested after that. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/15 "2007-07-31T01:55:52Z")
I’m somewhat surprised that you don’t know about the differences between the American and the British editions. It seemed to me like every thread about Harry Potter ended up discussing the differences. Here are two recent examples of those threads: > **[Luna Lovegood is NOT supposed to be the hottest little thing at Hogwarts!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=427180)** > > So why does she look like this: http://www2.warnerbros.com/orderofthephoenix/ (pick Luna from the drop-down menu). That girl is seriously cute. And while I understand the idea that practically all actressees, even British ones, are going to be... > **[Why are UK and US titles different for the same book?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430650)** > > This may be a silly question, but I wonder why American and British titles to the same book are often different. After reading In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, I decided to visit Australia. Browsing a bookstore there I noticed another Bill... ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/16 "2007-07-31T02:14:34Z")
Aside from changing words, there may be “style sheet” changes; e.g., single vs. double quotes; a, b, and c vs. a, b and c; how colons and semicolons are used; _an_ historic vs _a_ historic, etc. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/17 "2007-08-01T03:02:10Z")
It’s a silly change- the production of the Philosopher’s Stone was a primary intent of real-life alchemy, and Rowling deliberately draws on real-world myths in her books. I always assumed that her using the Philosopher’s Stone just showed that she’d done her research. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/18 "2007-08-01T05:23:16Z")
I haven’t read the article, but if Scholastic doesn’t also have editorial input on the primary manuscript (they _shouldn’t_, as you point out, but with a book this huge, they may require it), it may just be that a whole bunch of copy-editors at Scholastic are double-checking continuity and Americanization. While it is unusual for a foreign publisher to have any input on the original manuscript, it’s not unusual to bring in many, many people to fact-check things (even folks not at the publisher). They may just have decided that some of the additional people that they wanted to do the fact-checking were the Scholastic editors. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/19 "2007-08-01T05:50:48Z")
We got ours from Canada. One change that I know of: “Not so fast, Lugless” was changed to “Not so fast, Your Holeyness.” ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/20 "2007-08-01T05:52:27Z")
Oh, and as I’ve been re-reading, I’ve caught at least one grammatical error in each of the last three books. I wonder if the American editor caught those? (One was a “we” that should have been “us,” and the other two were lie/lay errors.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691.md?page=2)