A joke that I saw on Twitter the other day is now belatedly comprehensible:
JK Rowling has secretly written a crime novel under the guise of male debut writer Robert Galbraith.
The Harry Potter author was acclaimed for The Cuckoo’s Calling, about a war veteran turned private investigator called Cormoran Strike.
The book had sold 1,500 copies before the secret emerged in the Sunday Times. Within hours, it rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazon’s sales list.
And it’s likely to sell a good deal more, now. A shame that the secret didn’t last longer; still, a good reminder that it’s harder than you think to be really anonymous.
Moe Lane
PS: Cute title.
At a guess, the secret was leaked by her publisher.