The BBC have announced today that they will be creating a television show based on J.K. Rowling’s newest book, The Casual Vacancy.  The show is expected to air in 2014, with an unknown episode count, and  J.K. Rowling comments in the press release and says she thinks BBC is the perfect home for the book.

BBC One and BBC Drama have commissioned an exclusive adaptation of The Casual Vacancy from The Blair Partnership, who represents J.K. Rowling.

The series will be produced through an independent production company operated by Neil Blair, on behalf of The Blair Partnership, and Rick Senat, which shall engage the executive series producer. The deal was struck following discussions between Neil Blair and BBC One Controller Danny Cohen.

J.K. Rowling will collaborate closely with the project, with the number and length of the episodes to be decided once the creative adaptation process has formally begun.

The series has been commissioned for the BBC by Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC One, and Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama, and is expected to air in 2014.

The Casual Vacancy is already a global best-seller and is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

The novel is set in Pagford, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils… Pagford is not what it first seems.

J.K. Rowling says: “I’m thrilled that the BBC has commissioned The Casual Vacancy. I always felt that, if it were to be adapted, this novel was best suited to television and I think the BBC is the perfect home.”

Danny Cohen says: “It is thrilling to be bringing the work of J.K. Rowling to BBC One audiences. J.K. Rowling’s story-telling is of course peerless in its popularity, and I am looking forward to collaborating with her. This project highlights the ambition and scale of BBC One Drama, as well as the ability of modern television to attract the world’s biggest talent and most exciting creative ideas.”

Ben Stephenson adds: “We are thrilled to bring J.K. Rowling’s extraordinary tapestry of modern Britain to the screen. It’s a book of such richness that through humour, social commentary and above all fantastic characters, says something insightful and entertaining about the country we live in.”

The BBC has been releasing a myriad of interview snippets with J.K. Rowling that she did to promote her book, The Casual Vacancy. First up is a video interview where she says she wished she had more time to edit the Harry Potter books.

They have also posted a transcript of her interview with Will Gompertz. Some snippets may be read below:

Casual Vacancy has lots of swear words in it and lots of adult themes, do you worry that children who are fans of yours will be on an internet site where you can easily download books in one click, and they’ll suddenly be faced with really quite vivid language?

Well, I hope that we’ve made it really clear that this isn’t a book for children.

I’ve been very open about what the themes are, we’ve talked about what the story’s about. I would have thought that parents can make a very clear choice… I would have to ask why have kids got such untrammelled access to the internet that they are downloading… Well, I would be more worried about other things they could be downloading if they’re running amok on the internet on their own.

There is something of Dickens about this book.

I’m very flattered! When I did start writing it I was aware that I was doing a contemporary version of what I love, which is a big, fat 19th-Century novel set in a small community. So to an extent, swear words notwithstanding, that is what the Casual Vacancy is. It is a parochial – literally – novel that’s looking at slicing through a society, with everything that that implies. That’s what I wanted to do.

Did you create it in a similar fashion to your Potter novels – you had loads of research and described carving your novels out of it?

I did, really. I always know way more than I need to know. I have backstory on every character that I didn’t need. And, in fact, some of it was in the novel and I took it out. I just need to know much more than the reader does.

The publishers of J.K. Rowling’s new book, The Casual Vacancy, have announced a book tour that she will be participating in. Rowling is scheduled to appear on ABC’s Nightline, World News and Good Morning America, as well as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. She will also do two print interviews, one USA TODAY.

Publishers have revealed that they are approaching the release of this book differently than in the past with the Potter books. Although those older readers who were with Harry from the beginning are said to be the main audience, the book has a much darker tone that than of Harry Potter.

Set in the little English town of Pagford, The Casual Vacancy (Little, Brown, $35) revolves around an election held after a member of the parish council unexpectedly dies. Despite the Miss Marple terrain, press materials describe the novel as “blackly comic … Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.”

“I expect the world to be ecstatic at the range of her imaginative reach,” predicts Rowling’s American publisher, Michael Pietsch. One of the few to have read the embargoed book, he calls Rowling “a genius, one of the great writers of all time.” Reading the 512-page novel, he says, “reminded me of Dickens because of the humanity, the humor, the social concerns, the intensely real characters.”

Part of the reason for this is because J.K. Rowling wants to separate this book from the Potter series,

Barnes & Noble vice president for marketing Patricia Bostelman says that Little, Brown’s approach is what the author wants. “Apparently much of their behavior is at J.K. Rowling’s wishes,” says Bostelman. Rowling “has very strong opinions on how she wants publishing of the book handled. … She’s trying not to live on the laurels of Harry Potter and very much wants to have this book stand alone, on its own merit, just as if she were just any other author who was landing on the scene.”

The book will be released on September 27th. They are even releasing an e-book version simultaneously for $19.99.

J.K. Rowling will be doing a public reading of her newest book, The Casual Vacancy, on September 27th in London’s Southbank Centre.  This will not be a midnight release party, as we have come to know from Jo, but will be at 7:30pm. She will also have a Q&A session with the audience and sign copies of the books at the event! Tickets for the event can be purchased here.

She is also set to attend The Times Cheltenham Literature Festivalon October 6th at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse in the UK to discuss (and sign copies of) The Casual Vacancy.  To book tickets, £15 (£13.50 for Cheltenham Festivals Members,) please visit their website!

J.K. Rowling will be in conversation with documentary film-maker James Runcie, to discuss The Casual Vacancy. This unmissable event will offer Festival visitors a rare opportunity to meet one of the bestselling authors of our time.

Pagford is apparently an English idyll – but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.  In The Casual Vacancy J.K. Rowling has written a big novel about a small town, as a parish council election becomes fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations.  A storyteller like no other, she joins James Runcie for a rare appearance to discuss her writing.

J.K. Rowling will be signing copies of The Casual Vacancy after the event.  In order to allow as many audience members as possible to have their book signed, signing will be limited to one copy only.

The cover art and a new synopsis for J.K. Rowling’s new book The Casual Vacancy has been released by the Little, Brown and Company. The book is 512 pages and will be released on September 27, 2012 in hardcover ($35.00), large print hardcover ($39.00), e-book ($19.99), unabridged audio download ($29.98), and on CD ($44.98)

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?

A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J. K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.