JK Rowling bibliography reveals Harry Potter secrets including alternative title ideas

The 544-page book includes correspondence between Rowling and her editor

New secrets about the Harry Potter books have been revealed in a JK Rowling bibliography published this week.

Philip Errington’s comprehensive JK Rowling: A Bibliography 1998-2013 details all the workings of the author’s bestselling novels, including correspondence with her editor and revisions.

Fans will discover a host of secrets about the Hogwarts stories, including the range of different titles Rowling considered for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The fourth instalment, released in 2000, was almost called Harry Potter and the Death Eaters, Harry Potter and the Three Champions or Harry Potter and the Fire Goblet. We reckon the one she settled on has the best ring to it.

Other titbits of fun information involve Rowling’s editor telling her that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was “overlong”, to which she enthusiastically replied, according to the Guardian: “I’ve done more to it than you suggested but I am very happy with it now, which wasn’t the case before.

“The hard work, the significant rewrites I wanted to do, are over, so if it needs more cuts after this, I’m ready to make them, speedily…”

Rowling was less keen on the edits to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, however, which she claimed made her “sick of it”.

Rowling has voiced her respect for Errington’s 544-page work, writing that she is “in awe of the level of detail and amount of time he has dedicated to this slavishly thorough and somewhat mind-boggling bibliography”.