ALKHOBAR, 17 July 2007 — This is a big week for Harry Potter fans the world over. Last Friday, “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix” opened in movie theaters and then on Saturday, July 21, comes the release of the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling’s best-selling series.
All over the world, Potterheads have cleared the decks for a non-stop reading marathon on Saturday. It is expected that in the US alone, seven million copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” will be sold in the first 24 hours after its release. There are already 325 million copies of the Harry Potter series in print worldwide.
In Saudi Arabia, Jarir Bookstores will be selling “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” on July 21, and Jarir has been accepting pre-orders for the last month or so.
Without a doubt, the most significant Potter event associated with the book will be “The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Launch” in London. Bloomsbury Publishing has announced that the launch party is “completely oversubscribed and no further tickets will be issued.” However, Potterheads all over the world can still be a part of the excitement.
Bloomsbury will host a live webstream on their site www.bloomsbury.com of J.K. Rowling reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” from the Natural History Museum in London at the precise moment it is published — 12.01 a.m. British Summer Time (BST = GMT+0100) on Saturday. That will be 2 a.m. in Saudi Arabia. To have the best advantage in receiving the webstream, connect to bloomsbury.com using a broadband connection at least 30 minutes before the event. Shut down all other programs on the PC that might be using the connection such as an e-mail application. If something goes wrong and the connection cannot be achieved — a real possibility with the extreme traffic expected at the site, try after an hour or so. The streaming will be archived for two weeks after the event at bloomsbury.com.
In another special event, Harry Potter fans will be invited to put their questions to J.K. Rowling in a web chat held from 14:00-15:00 (BST) on Monday, July 30. Questions may be submitted one week in advance or live on July 30 at www.bloomsbury.com.
Numerous Harry Potter sites on the Net have gone into overdrive. One of the largest is “The Floo Network” (www.floo-network.org) which includes The Leaky Cauldron (www.the-leaky-cauldron.org) for Potter images, news and commentary; Accio Quote (www.accio-quote.org) for J.K. Rowling’s interviews and comments; and The Harry Potter Lexicon (www.hp-lexicon.org) an encyclopedia and dictionary focusing on everything in Harry Potter’s world.
J.K. Rowling’s official site is at www.jkrowling.com. In addition to standard web views, this site is available in text only and an accessibility enabled version for web users with special needs. To explore the latest Potter film click to www.harrypotter.com. This Warner Bros. site is best experienced with a broadband connection as it is very heavy on the graphics. The site allows fans to see the movie trailer, learn about the film, play Potter games and there are downloads too.
Wherever else your Harry Potter experience takes you on the web, don’t miss the largest Harry Potter fan site, MuggleNet.com. This week MuggleNet.com is expecting record web traffic. Currently the site is averaging more than a million visitors daily.
MuggleNet.com Founder Emerson Spartz has been fascinated with Harry Potter since he read the first of J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novels, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” Spartz, now 20, started www.mugglenet.com at age 12, based on his own prolific interest in all things Harry Potter. Today, in addition to attending college, he manages a staff of 120 around the globe, all of whom share a collective interest in the young wizard.
“I was fortunate to learn management skills 101 very early, which has prepared me well for a career in business,” commented Spartz. “Even in college, I see too many people who pursue careers based solely on a financial outcome, rather than on ultimately doing something they really enjoy or love. The money is great, but it’s not sustainable if you don’t enjoy the work.”
“I’m often asked for advice about being an entrepreneur,” added Spartz, “and my answer is always to keep asking ‘why’ when you’re pursuing something new. In my case, I’m constantly thinking about how I can change the site to be even better. There’s always room for improvement with any project.”
On a final note, in the UK, The Royal Mail will be required to put on a “magical performance” to deliver 600,000 editions of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” on Saturday. The UK’s postal service has been planning the delivery operation for the last six months. In a statement, The Royal Mail advised that online pre-orders for this J.K. Rowling blockbuster take the record for the biggest-selling single item ordered online for delivery on one day.
Additionally, The Royal Mail has issued special commemorative stamps to celebrate the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” 10 years after J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard first caught the imagination of readers all over the world. The stamps are reproductions of each of the seven book covers. They will be released today in the UK and may be viewed and ordered from www.royalmail.com.
