Despite it being 12 years since the last Harry Potter book released and eight years since the release of the last movie, fans all over the world continue the legacy of Rowling’s world through fantastic cosplays, fan gatherings, and books containing detailed analysis, recipes and fun facts.
One Harry Potter fan, Slytherin, and award-winning romance author decided to combine everything Harry Potter into a single book. Tan’s book, The Binge Watcher’s Guide to the Harry Potter Films, is the second title in Riverdale Avenue Books’ newest imprint dedicated to exploring the pop culture relevance of films or TV series in the modern world.
So why did Cecilia Tan write this book? Well, let her tell you herself.
“So, who am I, anyway? I'm an award-winning romance and sf/fantasy writer who fell headlong into Harry Potter fandom in the early 2000s and never climbed back out. I am a frequent guest at various Harry Potter fan conventions, I still cosplay, and I ran four Tarot-themed fan art and fanfic fests. When I heard Riverdale Avenue Books was planning to launch a series of Binge Watcher's Guides, I jumped at the chance to do this one.”
To launch the book, Riverdale Avenue Books has started a Kickstarter campaign on Tan’s birthday, April 8th. There are bonuses or stretch goals, if you will, for the project including “bonuses to unlock”:
Of course there are goodies you can earn based off which tier of the campaign you wish to support.
“We are offering several tiers of support, including ebooks and paperbacks at a discounted price, ebooks & books bundled with goodies like a Binge Watcher book bag, and some virtual experiences with me, the author. (Originally we had wanted to include several in-person, real life experiences, but in these days of pandemic social distancing, at this time we thought it best to keep everything virtual.)”
With the coronavirus pandemic forcing entire countries into lockdown, forcing citizens to self-quarantine and practice social distancing, Tan says, “The first time I felt some relief from the unrelenting stress since my household started isolation in early March was when some friends suggested we should each make cocktails, pop in our DVDs of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and live tweet together…
...and I realized it was even better than a cocktail for lifting my spirits and relieving my stress. It literally let me escape our troubled world for a while. What better time to be encouraging people to revisit these movies than now? I also realized that if we do the Kickstarter now, we can get books out to Kickstarter backers in July, and to the rest of the world in time for the traditional "back to Hogwarts" day of September 1. (Whether everyone will be returning to school in real life or if it'll only be wish fulfillment remains to be seen.) I can't actually wave a magic wand to make everything better, but this is the next best thing.
So come with me to Hogwarts. And thank you!”
You can show your support through any amount here in this link provided.