Sitting comfortably: supreme storyteller JK Rowling has seen her life transformed by the Harry Potter phenomenon. Now the richest woman in the UK with an estimated fortune of 545m pounds, her writing talents have helped to create one of the world’s most successful brands.

　　WHATEVER happened to the bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter in the eagerly awaited final book, it seemed there would be a parting of the ways from author J K Rowling. However, it appears that the seventh volume may not spell the end of their relationship after all.

　　The multi-millionaire British writer is understood to be preparing for one last look at the world of Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore and Voldemort after the publication of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows on 21 July.

　　Using background notes from the past decade, Jo Rowling is believed to be set to compile an encyclopedia of magic to create the ultimate guide to the world of wizardry. It would cover historical figures, such as the founders of Hogwarts school, along with elaborate genealogies of the main characters.

　　In March this year, Rowling described her sadness at reaching the end of the series. “I always knew that Harry’s story would end with the seventh book, but saying goodbye has been just as hard as I always knew it would be,” she wrote on her website.

　　“I’ve never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric.”

　　But suggestions of the plan have now appeared on her website, www.JKRowling.com. Despite telling fans that it was “highly unlikely” that she would write any more Harry Potter novels, she wrote: “I might do an eighth book for charity, a kind of encyclopedia of the world so that I could use all the extra material that’s not in the books.”

　　The possibility has been confirmed by her agent, Christopher Little, in London, who said Ms Rowling had “retained all the rights in the Harry Potter series” and pointed out that this included any companion books that she may write.

　　Ms Rowling who is 41 is a modern icon, at the very summit of the highly successful United Kingdom publishing industry that excels in creativity and its commercial exploitation. According to the Publishers Association, the value of the UK book market in 2006 is estimated to be 3.3 billion pounds sterling. UK publishers sold an estimated 787 million books, marginally lower than in 2005 by volume, but two per cent higher by value.

　　The United States remained the single largest destination for UK book exports, with sales of 215 million pounds (up 2.1 per cent on 2005), followed by Ireland (133m), Germany (92m), Australia (80m) and the Netherlands (79m). Total annual export earnings for publishing are recorded by HM Revenue & Customs at 1.2 billion pounds. But this does not include licensing and rights sales (estimated at 300m pounds), investment in established markets such as India, and the development of new-media products.

　　The book and journals market can be divided into three sectors of roughly equivalent value: academic and professional; educational and English language teaching (ELT), and consumer books. There are 3,500 companies that publish on a regular basis, with 15-20 firms accounting for about 80 per cent of turnover.

　　The UK and the US are each other’s largest markets and there is considerable cross-over between them. In export terms the US is the UK’s main competitor. Although the US domestic market is five times the size of the UK’s, the value of US and UK book and journals exports is roughly equal.

　　The prospect of an authorised Harry Potter encyclopedia will delight fans and booksellers. Rowling’s notes are believed to be almost as detailed as those made by JRR Tolkien for his fantasy Middle-earth, the setting of The Hobbit and his The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

　　Sales of the encyclopedia would almost certainly rival those of Deathly Hallows that has advance sales of 1.5 million on the Internet store Amazon alone. It is tipped to break publishing records when it goes on worldwide sale.

　　An industry of Harry Potter books already exists. In addition to the seven books by Rowling, there are estimated to be 190 Harry Potter-related titles cashing in on the success of the series.

　　In 2001, Rowling wrote two slim companion Hogwarts schoolbooks. Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them have raised more than 15 million pounds for the Comic Relief charity.

　　George Beahm, a US author who has written the best-selling Muggles And Magic: An Unofficial Guide To JK Rowling And The Harry Potter Phenomenon, told the UK’s Daily Telegraph: “I certainly think there is room for more books given the place of the Harry Potter series in the fictional universe,” he said. “For my part, I’ve made no great riches - but it’s been a lot of fun.”

　　Ms Rowling, who as a penniless single mother (with her daughter Jessica) living in Edinburgh in the early 1990s struggled to find a publisher for the first book, has seen her life transformed by the Harry Potter phenomenon.

　　Before publishing her first volume, her publishers feared that the target audience of young boys might be reluctant to buy books written by a female author. They suggested that Rowling use two initials, rather than reveal her first name, Joanne. Because she has no middle name, she chose K from her grandmother’s name, Kathleen.

　　Now regarded as the wealthiest woman in the UK, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated fortune of 545m pounds, her writing talents have helped to create one of the world’s most successful brands.

　　The books have sold more than 300 million worldwide and have been translated into at least 66 languages, including Serbian, ancient Greek and Mandarin Chinese, where the hero is called Ha-li-Po-ta.

　　There are more than 400 licensed Harry Potter products, including video games, and there are reports that the author is in negotiations to build a Harry Potter theme park in Florida.

　　In 2001, Rowling married her second husband, Dr Neil Murray. In March 2003, her second child, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born and in January 2005 she gave birth to a baby girl, Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray.

　　The fifth film made from the series, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, starring Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role, is expected to rival the newly released Spider-Man 3 for the title of biggest box-office opening weekend in history. (Source: British Consulate-General in Chongqing)