Preparing for Potter, Part 1
We'll forgoor at least glide overthe sometimes mind-numbing numbers involving the July 16 release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The book's record first printing is 10.8 million copies; the audio will
have a record first printing of 635,000 copies; as of last week,
B&N.com had sold more than 750,000 copies; Amazon.com has sold
more than 725,000 through yesterday; and Indigo expects to sell more Harry
Potter books in 24 hours than it sold copies of The Da Vinci Code in a year.
Midnight parties, a novelty two years ago, are now de rigueur, and it takes something highly unusual for retailers and libraries to stand out. The following are some snapshots of aspects of Potter-related mania, which we will continue to feature in the days before the book's release:
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Barbara's Bookstore, which opened a shop in the flagship Marshall Field's store at State and Main in Chicago in the fall of 2003, after the last Harry Potter appeared, now sells books in other parts of the store (and at other Marshall Field's) as appropriate. From this new spot, Barbara's will "take over" the flagship store for the day on July 16, as Barbara's owner Don Barliant said to Shelf Awareness. Details to follow.
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Besides having a magician and craft events at its Friday night party, Village Books, Bellingham, Wash., will make use of the new park behind its new building and project the Scholastic DVD interview with J.K. Rowling on a wall where movies are shown every Saturday night in the summer. The store will also donate $5 to a local literacy council for every copy sold.
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Borders is aggressively promoting "preorders" for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in stores and especially in e-mails. A month ago, it had already exceeded its preorders on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to Mike Spinozzi, executive vice-president and chief product officer. The company will have midnight parties in "a great many" stores, and will have more events in its mall stores than in the past. In addition, the parties will be expanded and include food, games, readings, face painting, mask making, science experiments and prizes. Spinozzi said that besides discounting the book 40%, the company is offering "a ticket to magic," which gives a 25% discount on another item bought when the Potter book is picked up.
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Even some college stores are aiming to create Potter magic. Stanford University Bookstore, Stanford, Calif., is hosting a breakfast on Saturday at 8 a.m., for which more than 150 people have signed up already, store director Ken Bowers said last week. The store will offer a literary program and prize drawings while encouraging costumes.
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Some booksellers have eschewed ancillary Potter merchandise, which has ranged in quality, as it were. But a few of these items stand out. In the case of one, Harry himself might say, "Lumos!"
LightWedge has shipped 60,000 Harry Potter Lumos Book Lights retailing
for $34.95. These LightWedges have Harry Potter graphics and seven
covers for the on-off switch. The storage cases are embroidered with
each of the Hogwarts house crests and protect the Book Light "whether
traveling by car, bike or portkey."
While LightWedge's primary audience is women aged 35-55, some 15% of its market is children, according to owner Jamey Bennett. The company is also hoping that the November release of the movie version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will continue to light the way toward strong sales.
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The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression hopes
booksellers will remind customers that Harry Potter books hold an
unfortunate record: they are the most-challenged titles since 1999, according to
the American Library Association. Intended to be inserted in copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, an ABFFE flyer about censorship of Harry Potter is available for downloading.
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Paul Donovan, sales and marketing director of Allen & Unwin, which distributes Harry Potter titles in Australia and New Zealand, said at BEA that his company is using the same laydown model as last time although he predicts a "bigger laydown" with this book and overall "a little bit of growth." In other words, most sales will occur the first weekend. "We expect that resupply will be very tiny," he told Shelf Awareness.
One of the major media events in Australia and New Zealand will be the Rowling interview in Edinburgh with young journalists from around the world. Several of those young journalists were sponsored by newspapers Down Under; their give and take with the author will be featured on television.
Midnight parties, a novelty two years ago, are now de rigueur, and it takes something highly unusual for retailers and libraries to stand out. The following are some snapshots of aspects of Potter-related mania, which we will continue to feature in the days before the book's release:
---
Barbara's Bookstore, which opened a shop in the flagship Marshall Field's store at State and Main in Chicago in the fall of 2003, after the last Harry Potter appeared, now sells books in other parts of the store (and at other Marshall Field's) as appropriate. From this new spot, Barbara's will "take over" the flagship store for the day on July 16, as Barbara's owner Don Barliant said to Shelf Awareness. Details to follow.
---
Besides having a magician and craft events at its Friday night party, Village Books, Bellingham, Wash., will make use of the new park behind its new building and project the Scholastic DVD interview with J.K. Rowling on a wall where movies are shown every Saturday night in the summer. The store will also donate $5 to a local literacy council for every copy sold.
---
Borders is aggressively promoting "preorders" for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in stores and especially in e-mails. A month ago, it had already exceeded its preorders on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to Mike Spinozzi, executive vice-president and chief product officer. The company will have midnight parties in "a great many" stores, and will have more events in its mall stores than in the past. In addition, the parties will be expanded and include food, games, readings, face painting, mask making, science experiments and prizes. Spinozzi said that besides discounting the book 40%, the company is offering "a ticket to magic," which gives a 25% discount on another item bought when the Potter book is picked up.
---
Even some college stores are aiming to create Potter magic. Stanford University Bookstore, Stanford, Calif., is hosting a breakfast on Saturday at 8 a.m., for which more than 150 people have signed up already, store director Ken Bowers said last week. The store will offer a literary program and prize drawings while encouraging costumes.
---
Some booksellers have eschewed ancillary Potter merchandise, which has ranged in quality, as it were. But a few of these items stand out. In the case of one, Harry himself might say, "Lumos!"
LightWedge has shipped 60,000 Harry Potter Lumos Book Lights retailing
for $34.95. These LightWedges have Harry Potter graphics and seven
covers for the on-off switch. The storage cases are embroidered with
each of the Hogwarts house crests and protect the Book Light "whether
traveling by car, bike or portkey." While LightWedge's primary audience is women aged 35-55, some 15% of its market is children, according to owner Jamey Bennett. The company is also hoping that the November release of the movie version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will continue to light the way toward strong sales.
---
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression hopes
booksellers will remind customers that Harry Potter books hold an
unfortunate record: they are the most-challenged titles since 1999, according to
the American Library Association. Intended to be inserted in copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, an ABFFE flyer about censorship of Harry Potter is available for downloading.---
Paul Donovan, sales and marketing director of Allen & Unwin, which distributes Harry Potter titles in Australia and New Zealand, said at BEA that his company is using the same laydown model as last time although he predicts a "bigger laydown" with this book and overall "a little bit of growth." In other words, most sales will occur the first weekend. "We expect that resupply will be very tiny," he told Shelf Awareness.
One of the major media events in Australia and New Zealand will be the Rowling interview in Edinburgh with young journalists from around the world. Several of those young journalists were sponsored by newspapers Down Under; their give and take with the author will be featured on television.
Dark Water,
directed by Walter Salles, starring Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly with
a screenplay by Rafael Yglesias, opens this Friday. The psychological
thriller, featuring a leaky apartment, shall we say, is based on a 2002
Japanese film also called Dark Water (or, for aficionados, Honogurai mizu no soko kara) made by the team led by director Nakata Hideo that produced the original Ring (Ringu)
movie. Both Dark Water and Ring are based on titles by Koji Suzuki.
(And here we finally get to the book!) "Dark Water" is the title story
of Suzuki's short story collection Dark Water (Vertical, $21.95).
The store also offers Internet services, homemade pastries and coffee.
Its books, 80% of which are used, include a "huge" self-help section,
religion, politics and war and a strong African-American selection.
Among current bestsellers are Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons as well as The Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. The store has about 9,000 titles.