That Time JK Rowling Signed 'Harry Potter' Books in Naperville

• Photos 1 and 2: JK Rowling talks at a 1998 book signing in Naperville. Photo 3: People read "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Photo 4: JK Rowling poses for a photo at Naperville Central.

Naperville, IL — Can you smell it? There’s magic in the air. It’s the distinct aroma of Butterbeer and chocolate frogs.

Or it could be an equally magical smell - that of ink on paper.

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“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the eighth story in the “Harry Potter” saga, is set to hit bookshelves July 31. To celebrate, Anderson’s Bookshop is holding a “Potter” party, the first one since the release of the seventh book in 2007.

There was a time when JK Rowling made appearances in small book stores. One such instance happened in 1998 in Naperville.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” had just been published in America. Both the first and second books had already been on UK shelves for around a year.

Anderson’s had received a shipment of advanced reading copies for “Sorcerer’s” from Scholastic, the American publisher.

Then children’s manager Jill Brooks fell in love with it.

“She pretty much ran around and shoved advanced reading copies in everyone’s hands,” said Anderson’s bookseller Erin Keables, who has been with the store for several years. “Of course, we all loved it.”

An inquiry sent to Scholastic about Rowling visiting was shot down. She just wouldn’t have time to do it. She was only going to the east and west coast.

“(Brooks) kept badgering the publisher and badgering the publisher,” Keables said. Scholastic eventually relented, and offered up one of the worst times to schedule a visit.

“They said, ‘Fine. We’ll have her stop by as she’s going coast-to-coast. You can have her on a Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.,’ On a school day. This is October. They really bent over backwards to bring her in, but the only time that was available was a horrible time,” Keables said

Every staff member with school-aged children pulled their kid out of school that day, according to Keables.

Several advance copies were sent over to the Project Idea students at Kennedy Junior High School, who then attended as a class trip.

In total, around 80 people showed up and were personally invited by Anderson’s.

“They were customers who came in and we said, ‘You’ve got to hear this author. This will be a memorable experience. You’ll be able to say you were there when...’”

Rowling was not a household name at this time. She had published a book that had moderate success. Midnight release parties were not yet a tradition and the first movie was still three years away from hitting cinemas.

“She was amazingly gracious,” Keables said. “She was impressed that when she asked how many people read the book, everybody raised their hand. She said, ‘This is the first time that everyone has read the book. Normally one person raises their hand.’”

It’s long been known that Rowling meticulously planned and plotted the books, but the actual scope of that was revealed during the signing.

“The students came with fabulous questions and she would say, ‘You’ll find the answer to that question in book 4,’ or ‘This will be explored in book 5. You’ll find something out about that in book 3. We realized just how meticulously this was planned out and the scope of what she was doing,” Keables said.

In addition to the signing and Q&A, Rowling spent about 10 minutes talking with a young writer, giving her tips and feedback.

“Most authors don’t do that,” Keables said. “Even the unknown ones, but she was so gracious.”

Rowling also got the chance to eat some deep dish Chicago pizza.

“We took her out to Lou Malnati’s. It was just a fun time. If there was a person, an author, you’d say it couldn’t happen to a nicer person to give this type of fame and fortune, I mean, JK Rowling is it.”

Rowling came to Naperville a second time for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” but it didn’t quite live up to the intimacy of the first event.

“By then she was a name,” Keables said. “She was well known.”

But that didn’t mean her attitude had changed. She brought with her the same sense of gratitude.

Keables said Rowling had carpal tunnel syndrome at the time and had to keep icing her wrist. She would only be able to sign 1,100 books.

The signing was held at Naperville Central High School and huge banners were created specifically for Rowling, who went through the signing line as fast as she could. Attendees ended up with only a few seconds with her.

There were 100 people outside who were unable to get their book signed and some of them had brought bouquets of flowers and artwork for her, Keables said.

“She came out to the waiting area and sat down and chatted with this group for about 15 minutes. She didn’t have to do that,” Keables said. “Even though they didn’t walk out the door with a signed book, they still got a fabulous experience with the author. They got to chat with her and got to ask some questions. And nobody else who went in to get their book signed was able to do that.”

Unfortunately, that was the last time Rowling would apparate in Naperville. But the patronus of her visits lives on.

On July 30, Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Downers Grove and La Grange will hold a midnight release for “Cursed Child” filled with “Potter”-themed games and activities, all leading up to midnight.

Shortly after that first visit, Keables was calling The New York Times to report on their bestsellers for the newspaper’s weekly list. She said they had sold around 320 copies of “Sorcerer’s Stone” by JK Rowling. The man at the Times said he’d never heard of her.

“You will,” Keables told him.