J.K. Rowling Upset That Law Firm Leaked The Cuckoo's Calling Psuedonym

Book sales of the title The Cuckoo’s Calling have been booming in the days since it was revealed the true author behind the title was actually Harry Potter series writer J.K Rowling, rather than Robert Galbraith, who has been listed as the author on the book’s cover. As it turns out, Galbraith is a pseudonym, and the real author, Rowling, is none too happy that her secret has been leaked.

On Thursday, word broke that the culprit behind the scandal, a woman named Judith Callegari, was told of Rowling’s pen name via one of the partners in the law firm Russells. The partner is Chris Gossage, who says he told his wife’s best friend the news in what he expected to be confidence. Instead, Callegari took to Twitter to blast the secret wide open, although her Twitter account would later be deleted. All of this could be considered hearsay, however, Russells actually came out and made an apology statement noting that it was the company’s bad that the secret hit the press.

"We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither J.K. Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved. “

The company also “apologize(d) unreservedly” for being culpable in the matter, as well as for letting Ms. Rowling down.

As shocking as the news that J.K. Rowling wrote a mystery novel under Robert Galbraith has been, finding out that it was a law firm that leaked the news is even more disappointing. According to Fox News, the author said in a statement that she clearly placed her trust in the wrong racehorse.

"To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I had assumed that I could expect total confidentiality from Russells, a reputable professional firm, and I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced."

The author was a little nicer about the news via her blog, where she thanked her editor for all of his hard work and even used an exclamation point to talk about being outed.

"I hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience! It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback from publishers and readers under a different name.”

Even though it might be a little annoying that the author’s secret came out, it’s certainly good for her publisher and for her book sales that people know the truth behind the novel. The Cuckoo’s Calling had only sold copies in the hundreds before word broke that Rowling penned the title, but now it’s selling like hotcakes. There are certainly worse outcomes for leaked information.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.