Re: British Editions Question for US readers

Bert wrote:
Thom Madura [Thom-Madura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] said:

<snip>


British author, British setting - should be in British English.


While I will not argue with you - the decision was made by the British Author to have an American English version - not the American readers.

SHe obviously wanted to ensure the success of the books - ie - MONEY$$$$$ more than she wanted to maintain the ABSOLUTE Britishness of the books.



I think it was more likely to have been a publisher decision, not an author one, in the first instance.

According to copyright law - the words are owned by the author - the publiser CANNOT make any such decision - without the consent of the author - so JKR had to approve the changes. While I agree that it is likely there was heavy pressure to make them - it was still her decision - and she could have refused. S



OK, now JKR could probably dictate, but a precedent has been set.

Shame the publisher failed to realise at that time that the book would sell without them having to "fiddle" with them. They do at least acknowledge that the title change of the first book was a mistake.


Noting that the American English versions of each book are the largest sellers of each - it would be hard to quarrel with her.


Are you really saying that you believe that not changing "skip" to "dumpster" in the USA version would have meant that Americans would have left the books on the shelves while it achieved world wide success outside of the USA? :-)


Again - I have said that I actually read the British versions first - although I admit "skip" is not a word I would have thought of as a dumpster or trash bin - I had no problem reading and learning from context. What I am saying is that JKR chose this situation - not the general American Public - and her decision reflects on her - not the general American Public.
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