He may still have to sweat for his degree in witchcraft and wizardry, but his marketing acumen will have any US business tycoon seething with envy.
Twenty-four hours after a new book about him hit the market, fictional boy magician Harry Potter from Hogwarts school of magic tricks sold an estimated five million copies for his US publisher, Scholastic Children’s Books announced on Sunday.
With about two-thirds of the novel’s initial print-run of 8,5 million copies already snatched up by eager buyers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix written by a rags-to-riches British author, J.K. Rowling, and priced at $29,99 a copy, broke all
publishing records, gushed Barbara Marcus, president of Scholastic.
”It is extraordinary to publish this magical book which is being read by millions of children and adults across the country at this very moment,” she said in a statement.
”Jo Rowling has once again written a novel that will be treasured by many generations to come.”
By comparison, it took former US first lady Hillary Rhodam Clinton a week to sell just 600 000 copies of her memoir Living History, a feat that was touted earlier this month as a publishing sensation.
Wizardry aside, Harry Porter has become a golden goose for the New York-based publishing conglomerate that also operates in Australia, Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and other countries.
The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone published by Scholastic in 1997, became an instant bestseller as did its four sequels: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire and now Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
There are currently over 80-million copies of the first four Harry Potter books printed in the United States, according to the company. And each of them has been a number one bestseller and continues to remain on various bestseller lists.
Worldwide, the aspiring magician who battles evil Lord Voldemort has managed to sell an estimated 192-million copies of his story translated in more than 55 languages.
Most US critics are still perplexed by the Harry Potter phenomenon. Some attribute its stunning success to Rowling’s ability to capture the imagination of both young readers and adults. Others see in it an indication that Americans are getting fed up with entertainment based on violence and sex and yearn for warmer and gentler heroes.
Whatever it is, the novel’s US debut one minute after midnight on Saturday turned into a carnival of sorts.
There were storytellers, witches, magicians and face painters working crowds outside the stores.
Waving magic wands and hugging stuffed white owls, children in black capes and trademark pointed hats milled around and swapped stories.
Retail chain Barnes and Noble, which claims to have been selling 80 copies of The Order of the Phoenix per second in the first hour after the debut, said some waiting lines counted up to 2 500 customers.
Its key competitor, Borders Books and Music, hosted midnight Harry Potter parties at nearly all of its 415 domestic stores. As she worked the media circuit, Rowling was careful to reveal just one detail of the plot — that one major character would be
killed off –thus bringing suspense to a fever pitch.
But in her latest interview, with Newsweek magazine, the world-famous author who once lived on public assistance said if that were her decision to make, she would have stopped all the commercial frenzy surrounding her creation.
”And I would have done if I could have,” she said. ”But you have to be realistic about this.” – Sapa-AFP