London: Call it the Potter phenomenon! Bloomsbury, the publisher of Harry Potter series, is facing a rebellion from its leading authors over its apparent obsession with writer JK Rowling.  

Home to a number of popular authors, Bloomsbury has so far sold more than 400 million copies of Harry Potter series worldwide and now treats Rowling as a queen -- this has caused dissent among some leading authors of the company.  

Joanna Trollope, the best-selling writer also known as the Queen of the Aga Saga, has already left and joined a rival publishing company, Transworld, The Daily Telegraph reported.  

Trollope left the company after complaining that Nigel Newton, the company's Chief Executive, and his team have become preoccupied with satisfying the city and shareholders and are no longer interested in fully promoting any authors except Rowling.  

According to sources, some of her fellow authors are also upset by the hardback publisher's apparent preoccupation with the Harry Potter books at the expense of their own work, with one saying: "They should publish one final book called 'Harry Potter and the Poisoned Chalice'".  

Rowling's success has exceeded Bloomsbury's wildest dreams since she published her first book in 1997, and spawned a seven billion-pound industry. But some of its authors claim that success has gone to the publisher's head and they have spent millions on celebrity books ignoring their old stable.  

However, Joel Rickett, the Deputy Editor of 'The Bookseller' said Bloomsbury could not be blamed for the way it had handled the Rowling phenomenon.

"Harry Potter is a book that would have changed any publisher."  

He added: "Bloomsbury was a relatively small firm and Harry inevitably transformed its fortunes. But, given the level of success it had with Harry, Bloomsbury has made a lot of noise about its other authors".

Source : PTI