While the reveal of J. K. Rowling as the author behind The Cuckoo’s Calling has made the book skyrocket in popularity and probably earned the writer some hefty royalty fees, the author is not pleased. An outing in the Sunday Times was not the intended, nor  way for her authorship to come to light. Rowling blames law firm Russells for the untimely leak. According to the author, she was assured by Russells of their employees’ complete discretion.

J.K. Rowling, Deathly Hallows Premiere
Despite those royalty checks, Rowling was not amused. 

"To say that I am disappointed is an understatement," she said in a statement. "A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know," she added.

J.K. Rowling, BAFTAs
The leak was just the culmination of a lot of word of mouth.

The reveal was apparently the result of a he-said-she-said chain of events, where the wife on one of Russells’ partners, Chris Gossage had shared the news that Robert Gallbraith was actually Rowling. She had told a friend, in confidence, however the anonymous friend then contacted The Sunday Times with the information. Russells apologized in a statement, saying: "Whilst accepting [Gossage's] own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified Jk Rowling's agent."

The company denied speculation that the leak was part of an elaborate marketing campaign by Rowling and her agent. "We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither JK Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved,” the statement said in response to some overeager conspiracy theorists.

Jk Rowling, Deathly Hallows Premiere
No one in her camp was involved in the reveal.