Saffron

Help! I've had an excellent idea for a small series of novels/novellas. The genre would be supernatural/mystery, and they would probably be orientated towards a young adult audience.

The problem is that the protagonist is a teenage boy, alive in England during the 1950s, and at the beginning of the series he starts at the Sixth Form of a prestigious boarding school (having been homeschooled beforehand).

I've just realised that this screams Harry Potter. I have nothing against Rowling's books (in fact I like them), but I hate the thought of being accused of copying her work.

I honestly love my idea, and I'd hate to abandon it. There are huge differences between my story and Harry Potter (they're set in different decades for a start), but I still feel anxious.

Does this similarity really matter? I mean, if I'm published in future, the HP series will be long finished. But still...

What do you think?

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blademasterzzz

Ehm... Well, I don't think that just because there's a boy in a boarding school, it seems harry potter-ish. There was also something called magic in HP.

I think it really depends where you take the plot. If it takes a totally different direction from HP, I don't think anyone will blame you for stealing Rowling's work.

lisajane

I agree with Blademaster. There's a stack of stories about guys in boarding school. In my own novel, there's a girl in a prestigious boarding school.

If you threw in magic, you may be on the border, but just don't make it too alike to Harry Potter.

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Mike C

Rowling borrowed heavily from elements of bygone books to create the boarding school thing, stuff like the Jennings and Billy Bunter series' - both, incidentally, set in the 50's.

It is, unfortunately, inevitable that comparisons will be drawn. There have already been a number of Potter-inspired books thrown together.

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Anidazen

Rowling herself (apparantly) borrowed a lot of it, the difference is that everyone knows HP.

But have you ever considered how this could work in your favour? There's a NEED for HP ripoffs to keep kids reading!

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Tyson

It is also very much true, that no matter what you write, there will always be simmilarities to something, I think that if you gave me anybook I could give you a copy of the idea or the other way around if I have read it. It just is the way it is, it is inevitable, and a very general thing.
Tyson

Anidazen

This is the entire basis of culture. We do things how we have known them to be done.

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Tyson

Presicely, that's why I said it.
Tyson

Saffron

Thank you, everyone! I confess that's what I wanted to hear.

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