04 Jul 2011 05:40:20
The series of seven books have since gone on to sell over 400 million copies while the screen versions of the books are believed to have grossed around £3.6 billion.
On Sunday night, Rowling's PR spokesperson confirmed that she had left Little to be managed by Neil Blair, a lawyer and former partner at Little's agency, adding it was a "painful decision".
A statement issued by StonehillSalt PR said: "We can confirm that JK Rowling has terminated her association with the Christopher Little literary agency.
"This was a painful decision, especially as Ms Rowling had actively sought a different outcome for some weeks. However, it was not taken without good reason and it finally became unavoidable," the statement read.
A previous statement earlier in the week acknowledged her association with Blair. "She will be represented forthwith by Neil Blair, who has left the Christopher Little Literary Agency and set up The Blair Partnership," it said.
The switch in agents comes in the wake of Rowling's recent decision to start selling electronic versions of the Potter books from October through a new website, Pottermore, a move that has disturbed the publishing world.
Her former publishers at Bloomsbury did not own the digital rights to the Potter books and the move to sell directly through her own website has put bookshops on the back foot.
Blair had been working closely with Rowling over the launch of the "immersive" Pottermore site which will also include games and exclusive views of unpublished material.
Little, 69, was reported to have been "disappointed and surprised" by Rowling's decision.
A spokesperson told the Telegraph, "Christopher Little has worked closely with Rowling since the very beginning."
"He greatly admires her and her extraordinary talent and is proud to have played his role throughout this journey. However, [Little] is disappointed and surprised to have heard the premature news about the proposed new arrangements."
