Lawyer Who Leaked J.K. Rowling's Pseudonym Fined And Reprimanded

Chris Gossage, the lawyer who revealed author J.K. Rowling had penned the novel "The Cuckoo's Calling" under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith has been fined $1650 and reprimanded with a written warning.

"The Cuckoo's Calling" a novel written by debutant Robert Galbraith was actually a work of established author J.K. Rowling. Chris Gossage, a partner at Russells Solicitors and representative of the author leaked this news last July. This news sky rocketed the sales numbers and it immediately jumped to the top of many bestseller lists. However, instead of receiving a note of thanks, Gossage has been slammed with a fine of $1650 and reprimanded with a written warning. According to the author, the lawyer is guilty of breaching privacy rules.

According to a Chicago Tribune report, Rowling said that she was "very angry" and "disappointed" with the whole affair.

"I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced," the tabloid quoted Rowling as saying in a statement in July. "To say that I am disappointed is an understatement."

Within hours of the revelation, the book topped many charts and jumped more than 5,000 places on Amazon. The digital version of the book stands at number one in the iTunes book chart. Nielsen BookScan reported that the book had sold fewer than 500 copies since its publication in April, 2013 until it was revealed in the Sunday Times that Rowling was the author.

The book was published by Sphere, part of Little, Brown Book Group which published Rowling's first novel for adults, "The Casual Vacancy."

"At the time, it had been "wonderful" to publish without hype or expectation and to get feedback under a different name even if that meant some publishers rejected her work as they had when she first touted her Harry Potter books," Reuters reported the author as saying.

Rowling's U.S. publisher, Hachette's Mulholland Books imprint, which had 10,000 copies of the title available in all formats during the time of revelation, went back to press for another 300,000 copies. The scarcity of copies dramatically drove up the price of first edition copies of the novel. A U.K., signed first edition of "The Cuckoo's Calling" was auctioned off and fetched approximately $1,300.

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