Barclay 1, Potter 0

I got in a spot of bother with a post about Harry Potter last year, from which you can gather I have probably been struck off J.K. Rowling’s Christmas card list. However I am definitely a fan of the United Kingdom’s currently bestselling book: Linwood Barclay’s No Time for Goodbye. I am pleased to see that, despite having Harry Potter and his cabal of friends making a nuisance of himself in the UK book charts, Canadian Linwood Barclay has seen off the pesky schoolboy wizard, as reported by The Bookseller:

Linwood Barclay’s No Time For Goodbye (Orion) has retained top spot for a second week with a 56,291 weekly sale, up 2,354 week-on-week. Barclay achieved the feat despite competition from the paperback release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Bloomsbury), which became the fastest selling book of all time upon its release in hardback last year.

The children's edition of J.K. Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter instalment sold 37,644 copies through the market at an average selling price of just £1.96 - 78.2% off its £8.99 r.r.p.

Note that neither Orion Publishing or Linwood Barclay didn’t need the heavy -- and in some cases suicidal -- discounting that Bloomsbury and Harry Potter enjoy. However in fairness, Barclay does owe a great deal to having his UK debut being selected as a Richard and Judy book.

New Harry, Says Telegraph

The new Harry Potter? Yeah: that’s gonna happen. The Telegraph has the latest contender:

Two British authors behind a publishing phenomenon that could take over from Harry Potter have landed a million-dollar Hollywood film contract.

Tunnels, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, has been snapped up by the film investment company behind 3.10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe, and The Spiderwick Chronicles.

OK so, yeah yeah: we know you don’t get to be first by following along. The best I’m hoping for here is “not stinky.” (But don’t let my cynicism cloud the issue.) Although the premise does sound pretty cool:

Now the co-authors are looking forward to seeing a big-budget version of their novel, which follows the adventures of Will Burrows, a 10-year-old boy who finds a secret world in a series of tunnels beneath the garden of his suburban London home.

However, self-publishers will want to sit up and take notice:

A couple of years ago the pair, who have been friends since college days, remained unpublished. They started in 2005 by self-publishing 2,500 copies and hawking them around booksellers.

Last year The Daily Telegraph exclusively published extracts from Tunnels just before it hit the bookstands.

But now they have earned £500,000 in advance royalties, with in excess of $1 million (£500,000) to come from the movie deal once filming starts.

And sometimes we wonder why people self-publish? That’s why: the big successes are rare, but they’re just so bloody dramatic.

Anyway, it’s a fun story, and it’s here.

“Wholesale Theft,” Charges Rowling

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was in court in New York yesterday, hot on the heels of a Michigan-based company that is trying to publish an encyclopedia based on the magical world Rowling has created. According to The New York Times:

Ms. Rowling and Warner Brothers Entertainment, which produces the Harry Potter films, are suing RDR Books, a small Michigan publisher, to stop the publication of Steven Vander Ark’s “Harry Potter Lexicon,” an encyclopedia based on Mr. Vander Ark’s popular Web site of the same name.

Ms. Rowling argued on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan that the proposed encyclopedia -- she has read the manuscript -- is a copyright infringement and is little more than an alphabetical form of plagiarism.

RDR Books, of course, has a different take on the matter:

What she denounced as plagiarism and a waste of money, the publisher defended as literary scholarship and an invaluable tool for Harry Potter readers, similar to a Shakespeare concordance, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the dictionary and other reference books. Ms. Rowling said the manuscript was “sloppy, lazy,” riddled with errors and motivated by the publisher’s and author’s realization that it could bring “a fast buck.”

Though aspects of the proceedings are quite serious, some fictional silliness was bound to sneak in here and there:

Everyone except Ms. Rowling seemed to be competing for the wittiest Harry Potter references.

When her lawyer, Dale Cendali, spoke Lord Voldemort’s name -- known to everyone who has ever read a Potter book as “he who must not be named” -- she quickly said, “Forgive me for speaking the name.”

And Mr. Falzone, the defense lawyer, suggested in his opening statement that Ms. Rowling was trying to exert a bit of the dark arts herself, by testing whether she “has the power to make the Lexicon disappear from our world.”

The case, which is likely to run all week, is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Robert P. Patterson without a jury.

The New York Times piece is here. Hecklerspray gets a bit fun and silly here, while The Scotsman offers up just the facts here.

Harry Potterland (RowlingWorld?) Here We Come

The world is abuzz today with the news that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh book in J.K. Rowling’s übberbestselling Harry Potter series will be split into -- count ‘em -- not one, but two films. As told by E-Online:

And for his final trick, Harry Potter will split himself in two.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book from J.K. Rowling's mega-selling series, will be made into not one, but two, movies.

As first reported Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I will hit theaters in November 2010, to be followed six months later, in Kill Bill and Matrix fashion, by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II in May 2011.

The thing I don’t get about this is: why all the big surprise? After all, if faced with the final episode of what has also been an übberbestselling movie franchise, and you suddenly sense the possibility of making two, two, two films instead of just the one -- thereby reaping the rewards on two moves -- well… it ain’t brain surgery, is it? (And, let’s face it, most of these Hollywood types appear not to be brain surgeons.)

There aren’t too many slouches at The Guardian. They got all the implications and ramifications right away:

It might have been called Harry Potter and the Eternal Sequel. Faced with the last in a series of books that ended with a climactic showdown, the producers of the $4.5bn-and-counting Harry Potter film franchise did what came naturally: they decided to turn the final installment into two films.

And they have the schedule pretty much set:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I will come out in November 2010, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II will appear the following May.

One would suspect, then, that the two films will be made like one, big giant movie, then released half a year apart. Especially since, let’s face it, at 18, the star Daniel Radcliffe isn’t getting any younger.

Releasing the two films near the same time will also provide other opportunities:

The double release will also help sustain marketing activities, including a theme park opening in Florida next year; and it means the two final films will be eligible for the 2011 and 2012 Oscars respectively.

It really is a small world. After all.

Quidditch for Muggles

Let’s say you want to play Quidditch, the high-paced, high-flying game featured in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels. Let’s say you wanted to play, but were hampered by the fact that -- oh... I don’t know -- you have zero magical powers and you lack the ability to fly. Take heart: it turns out these shortcomings might not be the deal breaker they first seem.

According to Sarah Hinckley of the Rutland Herald, the sport of quidditch is growing like magic (ahem) on campuses in eastern United States:

As the setting sun spun red light, similar to the streak of a flying bludger ball, onto the Middlebury College campus, the Mollywobbles celebrated victory and geared up to capture a championship cup. “We played really well out there today,” said team captain Charlie Hoffman. “We went out there and surprised a lot of teams. Hit ‘em low and hit ‘em hard.”

On November 15th, the first Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup Fall Festival took place at Middlebury College in Vermont. Though thus far only Middlebury and Vassar have Quidditch teams, though Green Mountain College is currently putting one together. Others will no doubt follow.

Quidditch as played by American muggles was created by Middlebury junior Xander Manshel when he was a freshman. Manshel told the Addison County Independent that he “designed some rules that would work without magical forces, without an ability to fly.”

Don’t Hold Breath for New Book by J.K Rowling

Headlines today that J.K. Rowling has finished her first work since the completion of her Harry Potter saga are overstating the point. The Tales of Beedle the Bard are mentioned in the final Harry Potter book and actually play an important role. But don’t get too excited: Rowling has only created seven copies. Rowling has said that working on the book had been therapeutic for her According to The Times Online:

“The Tales of Beedle the Bard is really a distillation of the themes found in the Harry Potter books, and writing it has been the most wonderful way to say goodbye to a world I have loved and lived in for 17 years,” she said.

Handwritten and illustrated by Rowling herself, “the seven copies have been bound in brown morocco leather and mounted with silver and semi-precious stones,” The Times reported.

A single copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be available for purchase: but don’t get your hopes up:

The volume will be auctioned at Sotheby’s on December 13 with a starting price of £30,000. Proceeds will go to The Children’s Voice, a charity that helps vulnerable children across Europe.

The other six copies, Rowling says, will be given away as gifts.

Meanwhile, GalleyCat reports that Rowling is nixing companion Harry Potter-related books and Web sites wherever her powers will allow. “Why?” GalleyCat asks a little facetiously, I thought. “Because Rowling believes she can squeeze at least one more book out of the franchise, a ‘definitive’ encyclopedia with ‘new material’ that wasn’t in the books, which no doubt means more of her personal interpretations of the storyline like last month’s revelation that she knew Dumbledore was gay, even if you didn’t.”

Except that, since the entire Harry Potter world is Rowling’s “interpretation,” she gets to play that card. And we’ll stand in line to listen.

Rowling Pulls Dumbledore from the Closet

JK Rowling’s revelation that Albus Dumbledore is gay is creating a firestorm. Some groups are applauding the author of the bestselling Harry Potter books for outing the fictional headmaster of Hogwart’s School. Others... not so much.

Rowling dropped her bomb last night in New York at Carnegie Hall at an event hosted by MSNBC news anchor Keith Olbermann. Entertainment Weekly’s blog reported today:

Responding to a question from a child about Dumbledore’s love life, Rowling hesitated and then revealed, “I always saw Dumbledore as gay.” Filling in a few more details, she said, “Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald.... Don’t forget, falling in love can blind us. [He] was very drawn to this brilliant person. This was Dumbledore’s tragedy.” She added that in a recent meeting about the sixth movie, she spied a line in the script where Dumbledore waxed poetic about a girl, so she was forced to scribble director David Yates a note to correct the situation.

Predictably, the airwaves have today been abuzz and atwitter with the news. “Welcome to out of the closet Dumbledore,” said the Gay Socialites blog, “Where’s your PEOPLE magazine cover?”

While the Red State blog rambled on incoherently for a while under a headline that summerizes the gist: “Turns Out Dumbledore Was More Flawed Than I Thought.”

CBC Arts today reported that “Harry Potter fans have long speculated over Dumbledore’s sexuality, in part because of his mysterious past and lack of ties with female characters.” Which is certainly a bit of speculation I never heard a hint of (maybe I don’t hang out at the right watercoolers?)

And according to Ireland Online, “A spokesman for gay rights group Stonewall said: ‘It’s great that JK has said this. It shows that there’s no limit to what gay and lesbian people can do, even being a wizard headmaster.’”

Albus Dumbledore was portrayed by Richard Harris in the first two movies in the successful franchise. Upon Harris’ death in 2002, the role was played by Michael Gambon.

That Potter Story Has Legs

Since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released last Saturday, it’s felt as though editors everywhere have been saying “If it reads, it leads.”

Who can blame them? After a decade of ever-escalating stories about the boy wizard and his Titian-haired creator, reporters are looking at a hole where Harry used to be. Best to fill it while there's still a story to be told.

Though the Harry Potter story certainly has legs, some of the connections being made are... well... more tenuous than others. For example, Pink News UK tells us about the lesbian reading material on a bookcase behind Rowling in one of the author’s bio shots.

A closer examination of the image gives us an insight into Rowling's own reading material. Assuming it's her bookcase of course.

After all, it could be her bookcase. But then again... maybe not.

And while some publications are going for the big reach, others have settled for the blatantly obvious. For example, The Atlantic’s Ross Douthat reports that, while some people hate Harry Potter, some people... um... don’t.

There have always been two critical camps on the Harry Potter phenomenon -- the small band of haters, which includes Harold Bloom, A.S. Byatt, and lesser lights like Ron Charles, and the host of apologists, which includes more or less everybody else. I'm a card-carrying member of the latter group; I’m not a Potter obsessive by any stretch, having read each book only once, but I am a great admirer of Rowling’s work, and I’ve always thought that that her skill as a storyteller and world-builder outweighs her literary weaknesses.

I found Douthat’s Rowling assessment somewhat sour grapsey, but to help you to draw your own conclusions, the piece is here.

The business section of The Times Online skates on thin ice connecting Potter mania to book collecting.

The first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was limited to only 500 copies in hardback and over 1,000 in paperback. As a result, a signed copy of a first-edition hardback (which sold for £10.99 in 1997) notched up a world record of £27,370 at Bloomsbury Auctions in London in May this year.

In fairness, part of the sour grapes over this one might be mine: I owned a first edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and did not keep it. I console myself with my signed copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Though The Times brings us to book collecting through the lens of Harry Potter, it widens that lens throughout the piece, bringing us a full, if brief, view of collecting books.

Star examples include Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon from 1930 (more than £35,000), and Agatha Christie’s first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, from 1921 (more than £20,000) and HG Wells’s The First Men in the Moon from 1901 (£12,000).

Perhaps the ultimate is the first issue of Ulysses by James Joyce from 1922. It was published in various limited states but the rarest was 100 copies on special paper, signed by Joyce. These can now fetch more than £150,000.

The piece ends with some general collecting advice, including, “Go for the first edition of the first book by an author who later becomes popular.” That’s the trick though, isn’t it? And if you have the secret to ferreting out the author who will be popular, there are a lot of agents, editors and publishers who would like to hear from you.

India’s Economic Times goes all literary critic when they ask the unbylined question, “Wanna know the real secret of Potter’s success?” In yet another business-writer-turns-armchair-psychologist attempt at breaking down the Potter phenomenon, the Economic Times lays it all out for us. Simple like, so we don't miss it:

As more individuals experience the product, the benefit to others increases, lifting the incentive to experience the product even more. Woe be unto the poor child who showed up at elementary school in 1999 without a thorough knowledge of wizards and muggles. Such social pressures fired demand, which lured parents into reading the book with their children.

Oh... that’s what is was. And here we thought it was just because a lot of people liked Rowling’s books. Wrong, says Economic Times:

There are many works of art that are equally as entertaining as the Harry Potter books. Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy is as enjoyable, and perhaps more imaginative. But Potter scored the big prize. Why? Clearly, the artistry of Rowling is an important element explaining Potter's success, but the changing economics of the ‘new’ economy clearly plays a role as well.

Of course, the big news since the seventh and final Harry Potter novel was released five days ago has been all about numbers. You’ll have seen some of these stories already: the Harry Potter books are expected to eclipse sales of The Bible. The films will outsell even the mega-hit Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. No one has sold more books in as many places as J.K. Rowling.

I will remember this moment. I think I’ll remember it all my life: this excitement, this hoopla, this loss of perspective and balance. I will remember the week during the summer of 2007 when everything else was pushed from our minds. When, for a heartbeat, we forgot about limits, we adjusted our sights. And we thought about possibilities and about magic and the fictional orphan who touched so many lives.

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

With the end of the embargo on the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, January Magazine contributing editor Sue Bursztynski got right to work.

As a children’s librarian and the author of several books for young readers, Bursztynski can see the flaws in Rowling’s final installment. However, she’s quick to point out that they’re not fatal flaws: she came away feeling satisfied that most of the loose bits had been tied up. Says Bursztynski:

Rowling warned us that there would be deaths and the first occurs while Harry is being escorted to the Burrow. Another character loses an ear. By the end of the book, there are more bodies than in the last scene of Hamlet. In previous books, the author killed beloved characters one at a time and left Harry time to mourn. In Deathly Hallows, they are killed en masse, mostly offstage, and there is simply no time to mourn.

The full review is here.

What’s That You’re Reading?

I confess, I picked this lead up from Duane Swierczynski at the Secret Dead Blog. The brilliant and brash contributors to a Web site called Pointless Waste of Time have concocted a variety of manly looking book jackets for those folks who want to read the new Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but don’t want to be seen doing so in public. Some of the specimens offered are pretty outrageous, and a few will absolutely make you persona non grata at your local Starbucks. But, the site reassures visitors, “Print these out and you can safely read your Potter in front of all those ex-Navy SEALS at the local strip club.” And isn’t that what’s really important?


The main assortment of Harry Potter cover-ups is available here, while some equally fine rejects (one of which I have borrowed above) can be found here.

A Little Touch of Harry in the Night

I know it’s been “All Harry All The Time” this week at January Magazine. And, perhaps like you, I’m getting weary of the hype. It certainly didn’t help matters that I spent nearly 10 hours today in U.S. airports trying to fly home from a business trip, and heard endless CNN reports about Pottermania on both sides of the Atlantic. I’ve never cracked open a Harry Potter book, so I can’t speak personally about the series ending. My wife and stepchildren, however, are big fans, and Leslie will pick up her copy from a favorite independent bookstore while she visits her parents this weekend.

Still, I found myself in a local chain bookstore on Friday evening, enjoying the air of anticipation as well over a hundred children waited for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

You can’t spend time this weekend in a bookstore and not be captivated by it all. Think of it: This weekend, in the middle of summer, children in North America, the United Kingdom and who knows where else, will put aside their iPods, PlayStations and DVDs. They will take a break from text messaging, instant messaging and chat rooms. They will curl up with a book. A book they’ve anxiously awaited for months. They will talk to their friends about it, and they will debate the relative merits of the book, compared to its predecessors in the series, or perhaps in contrast to other books they’ve read.

Isn’t this what it’s really all about? Connecting with a fictional world and putting aside everything else?

Maybe Harry and his friends don’t appeal to you -- fine. I’m in the same boat. Still, I plan on emulating my young friends this weekend. I’m going to get lost in a book.

Final Countdown to P-Day

I know I said we were done reporting on Harry Potter stuff. But as anticipation for the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling’s series works its way into an exquisite frenzy just hours before the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it’s hard to think about anything else.

And, Ali Karimic grumblings aside, it’s also difficult not to be swept up in an excitement this vast. We’re all about books and reading around here. All of this excitement isn’t about a movie or a rock star or a sports personality. It’s about a book. A book for kids. How bad can that be?

This exquisite Potter frenzy is, of course, international in scope. Wherever on earth you look right this second, you encounter kids reading. (Albeit, a lot of them are dressed up in funny costumes.) And if they’re not reading, they’re thinking about reading very soon. And they will be, despite the fact that a rash of Internet spoilers have tried to ruin some of the fun, led -- of all things -- by the New York Times who broke the embargo with a review a couple of days ago. (The lack of link here is deliberate, btw. Embargo breakers don’t get linked to. At least, not from here. Here, however, is a link to one of the stories about how very pissed the author is about getting... um... pissed on.)

I happen to agree with the spokesperson from Rowling’s UK publisher, Bloomsbury, who called the NYT’s early review of Deathly Hallows “very sad.” That wasn't breaking the story, it was breaking integrity.

The Times of India was angry enough about the whole affair, they sometimes skated pretty close to poetic:

Author J K Rowling has reacted with fury after a US paper run a review of the final book in the Harry Potter series two days before its official publication, thereby breaking the cloak of secrecy surrounding the book.

(I like that: “cloak of secrecy.” Too bad there won’t be a book eight: Rowling could have used that one.)

As far as international media for the launch of the new book goes, the NYT’s sad breach was just the tip of the iceberg, especially for an avid Australian fan who, in the dead of winter down under, had to be rescued from a frigid lake when his advance purchase receipt for Potter 7 went fluttering into the drink and he pitched himself in after it. (Note to self: reading the books does not give you magical powers.)

According to the Brisbane Times:

A security guard pulled the man from the water about 4pm (AEST) when he was found splashing around searching for his receipt.

He was stabilised by paramedics after suffering suspected mild hyperthermia and taken to Calvary Hospital in a stable condition.

It is believed a doctor at the hospital made contact with the book store that issued the voucher and arranged for a replacement in time for Saturday morning’s release.

[Editor's note: though two national Australian newspapers have run with this item, neither mentions “the man’s” name. And both refer to “hyperthermia” which means the body temperature is much higher than normal: something one wouldn’t expect after a rescue from “frigid” waters. In all, it would seem to have several of the earmarks of an urban legend. (Or, in this case, a UL in the making.) We suspect the item may be apocryphal, but it was so much fun, we wanted to repeat it. After all, the story has all the heroism one would like to see in an HP fan on this momentous occasion.)

Even Aljazeera has commented, reporting today that “The book’s release has been carefully orchestrated in order to maximise suspense and sales -- from London and New York to Mumbai and Australia’s outback.”

Aljazeera was also the first place I’d read that “in Britain, a phone counselling service for children expects a surge in calls when readers learn who is killed off.”

Which might be their way of saying that, one way or the other -- and but for some crying -- the frenzy is almost over.

Ali Karim, Shut Your Eyes or All Pottered Out

Warning: This is January Magazine’s obligatory 11th-hour Harry Potter post.

This piece should be sprightly and interesting but, frankly, enough already. Even though (forgive me, Ali) I’m as much a fan of the magical orphaned imp as anyone (well ... maybe not anyone) the media saturation of the past week has left me wishing for the good ol’ days when we just complained about too much Paris Hilton. Heck: right this second, Hilton feels like a media wallflower when compared with ol’ Harry.

So, OK. There are many things I should/could be sharing with you on the off chance that you missed hearing about it somewhere else. For instance, I could have let you know that Scholastic, Potter’s US publisher, has slapped a lawsuit on an online retailer that shipped a whackload (perhaps not the official number) a full week before the on-sale date.

Or I could have let you know that Canada’s National Post has managed to join the hoopla with an eco-smart piece on the greening of Harry.

And it would have been fun to tell you about how “Harry Potter’s Israel launch pits wizard vs. rabbis.” (All they needed was the octagon.)

But, honestly? I don’t feel like it. However, I will tell you this: our reviewer is standing by, itchin’ and twitchin’ to get her hands on (a legitimate) copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She’s going to read it as quickly as possible (try n’ stop ’er!) then share the results of that reading with you.

Our review will not be the first one you see. We’re not even trying to get our hands on a bootleg copy (we don’t play the game that way) and, when we do get our for-real copy, it will actually be properly read before being reviewed. All of this takes time.

Meanwhile, I can’t imagine that this will be anything but our last post on all matters Potterish until we actually have a review to share. If you’re Jonesin’ for more, however, it’s out there. GalleyCat has been doing a great job with its daily Harry Potter roundups. Also, The Guardian has put together a pretty comprehensive page on useful (!?) Potter links.

OK, Ali: you can look now.

Potter 7 Closes In

I have to choose my words carefully. Despite several attempts, I am not a follower of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels. The final one is almost upon us -- due to be released at midnight on July 21st.

Writing for The Independent, Danuta Kean reports that, from a commercial perspective, Potter 7 -- as it is referred to in the “trade” -- is causing problems for booksellers:

Millions of readers around the world may be shivering with excitement at the thought of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released at midnight on 21 July, but to those who sell the book, it is more likely to be remembered as Harry Potter and the Nightmare on High Street.

For, to them, Harry Potter is a loser. And that, ironically, may well include Bloomsbury, the publisher who found a diamond in the rockface when it discovered the author J K Rowling.

The problem is that the seventh and last book in the Potter series is expected to be the fastest-selling book of all time.

So the supermarkets, never ones to miss a “pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap” trick, will sell it way below cover price. And that means trouble for every other retailer, even the book chains.

Small bookshops, especially, will suffer as they struggle to keep up with the discounts offered by the industry's big players.

Shop owners like Marilyn Brocklehurst of Norfolk Children’s Book Centre in Alby, near Cromer, said she will have to stock the book, once again, against her will for the 21 July launch.

“We will make a loss on it, but we can’t afford not to sell it,” she said. “We have to pay Bloomsbury £10.74 a copy, so I can’t afford to sell it for the price it is in Asda.” Thousands of bookshops around the country will face the same situation.

At £8.87, almost half the £17.99 cover price, Asda is treating the book as a loss leader to tempt customers through its doors rather than those of one of its rivals. Even the UK’s biggest book chain, Waterstone’s, is feeling the squeeze.

Consider also the problems it will cause J. K. Rowling’s UK publisher, Bloomsbury, who will have to learn to cope in a Post-Potter world.

The flipside is that when Potter hangs up his wand he will also leave a big hole at the publisher. Already Bloomsbury is facing a financial crisis with shareholders suffering from post-Potter jitters.

The value of the company has fallen by half, from £285m to £134m, because of fears about what will happen when Harry is no more.

The first clues of what this will mean financially came in April, when Bloomsbury revealed its profits had collapsed by three-quarters to £5.2m. The shortfall was due to last year’s lack of a Potter title and a string of flops.

The marketing director of one rival publisher said: “I think Potter has put Bloomsbury under unrealistic pressure. Most publishers operate on a 5 per cent profit margin. So effectively in non-Harry Potter years, Bloomsbury is being asked to make four times that -- 20 per cent. That is an unrealistic amount of money in publishing.”

But let’s not dwell on the negative, even as someone who dislikes the Potter books, I marvel at what they have done for children’s literacy:

The one positive legacy Potter-mania will leave behind, however, is a healthy market for children’s books. J.K. Rowling proved, contrary to popular opinion, that boys read. As a result Harry Potter has led to a tide of writers following in her wake -- Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) and current favourites Anthony Horowitz (Stormbreaker) and Charlie Higson (Young James Bond).

You can read Kean’s full article here.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the publisher who first signed J.K. Rowling is making a pre-emptive strike against the possibly Potterless years looming head.

In an industry that revels in hype and is always on the lookout for the next blockbuster, two unknown authors have amassed advances of over 500,000 pounds and pre-publication rights in 15 languages.

Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams were signed by Chicken House publisher Barry Cunningham after he tracked down an early version of their book Tunnels that was self-published.

“Tunnels has it all,” Cunningham reports, “a boy archaeologist, merciless villains, a lost world and an extraordinary journey to the centre of the earth.”

The Reuters piece is here.

Potter Cover Art Ready to Roll

It won’t be long before you’re seeing it everywhere but, for the moment, you can see it right here: the cover art for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling’s astonishingly successful series.

Here we have the new cover in three flavors: (from left) U.S., UK adult and UK junior. (And, incidentally, the UK covers are also the Canadian covers.)

I must say, I'm a little disappointed by both cover designs. (And I mean the junior covers: the UK adult covers have always been too bland to bother commenting on. What else would one expect from an object cover intended to provide little beyond camouflage on the Tube?)

Maybe both illustrators were so mesmerized by their design briefs (“The final book! The final book!”) they lost track of just creating something attractive and enduring.

Or it’s possible it’s just me. Though I don’t think I’m alone in having impossibly high hopes for the final book. Even the accompanying art. I was expecting covers that produced a deeper response than a shrug and a “Meh.”

Right then: ‘nuff said. For now. There will be plenty of Potter brouhaha between now and the release date of the book on July 21st. We’ll try to keep it to a minimum.