Sales of the seventh and last Harry Potter book are, to no one’s surprise, breaking records in the publishing industry.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has thrown off concerns over internet spoilers and broken embargoes to confirm its position as the world’s fastest-selling book today, with Nielsen Bookscan estimating a staggering 2.7m copies sold in the UK of the seventh and final book during a hectic period of just 24 hours - a 35% increase on first-day sales of JK Rowling’s last blockbuster, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The figure, which includes sales through UK bookshops, supermarkets, internet sites and newspapers on Saturday July 21 2007, brings to a close a remarkable run for the popular children’s serial, which saw record-breaking sales of 1.8m copies in one day for the fifth book in the series, and 2m for the sixth. UK sales of the Harry Potter series as a whole now stand at 22.6m copies, with 72.1m copies sold worldwide.

Link to the Guardian article

With four months to go until the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, independent bookshops have started the fight back against the massive discounting of the book by the bookselling chains. At the vanguard of the battle for the boy wizard’s fans is Dulwich Books, an independent in south London which is hoping to win customers with a Harry Potter loyalty scheme. Every purchase of children’s books worth £10 or more before June will win earn a point and when the card is full with 10 points, customers will be entitled to a free copy of the new Harry Potter.

Small stores have a choice between selling the book at the full expected £17.99 and risk driving away customers, or discounting it and losing money.  Alternate marketing strategies like this one could help encourage readers to buy indie.
Link to the Guardian article

Since Tyler Stewart, owner and president of 17-year-old Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge, Mass., posted a call for help earlier this month on his Livejournal blog, more than a thousand people have stepped forward to keep the store open by participating in a T-shirt drive. With the proceeds, Stewart plans to pay off his delinquent payroll taxes, although, he said, the store’s finances will continue to be “touch and go.” He has been able to negotiate with all his other creditors except the IRS.

For Stewart, it is particularly gratifying to have so many current and former customers from all over the country and England participate in the drive. About half the replies, he said, are people who have never shopped at Pandemonium, but care about independents. (T-shirts are still available at www.pandemoniumbooks.com.)

Link to the Publishers Weekly article

Patricia Schroeder, the president of the Association of American Publishers, said US publishers in China last year suffered an estimated 52 million dollars in losses due to piracy on the Internet.

“Visits to China and discussions with our member publishers reveal a staggering amount of book piracy plaguing this most promising of markets,” she said.

Book piracy also includes illegal commercial scale photocopying of academic materials, print piracy and unauthorized translations as well as trademark counterfeiting, Schroeder said.

Bestsellers such as the Harry Potter series, Dan Brown’s novels and political autobiographies are pirated in English and Chinese within days of their home country releases, Schroeder said.

Link to the Yahoo! News article

Inspired by the example of Sarah Waters and David Mitchell, who both worked as booksellers before becoming bestsellers, the Not Published Yet competition invites submissions from unpublished authors working in the book trade to win a publishing contract with Faber and Faber, and an advance of at least £2,000.

The competition is open to writers of both fiction and non-fiction, whether they work for a chain or an independent bookshop. First-time authors working full- or part-time for organisations that are members of the Booksellers Association can send in 10,000-word extracts, proposals, outlines or synopses of their work by June 29 2007.

Link to the rest of the Guardian article

AP reports:

It’s months away from being on bookshelves, but fans can’t get enough of the seventh - and final - Harry Potter book, no matter the cost.

Not only is “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows” topping the charts of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, a deluxe edition, priced at $65, is No. 2, outselling the “You” diet book, Sen. Barack Obama and an Oprah Winfrey-endorsed memoir by Sidney Poitier.

Full article can be found here.

The Wall Street Journal notes:

The price is $5 higher than author J.K. Rowling’s most recent book, and a sign that Scholastic is intent on maximizing its profits on what is expected to be the last in the Potter series.

Aggressive price discounting by big book retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. means many consumers will be able to buy the book for $20 or less, however. Amazon.com is now taking preorders for $18.89, as is Barnes & Noble, which will charge $20.99 or $18.89 for members of its book club.

Carl Howe posted a few thoughts relating to the price on SeekingAlpha. An excerpt:

I find it ironic that this whining about book prices is being run the Friday before the Super Bowl, when attendees will an average of $5,540 per ticket for an afternoon’s entertainment. That’s just me, though.

More seriously, however, pricing the Harry Potter books is a serious marketing challenge.

View the full article here.

PW is seeking nominations for our 14th annual awards for Bookseller of the Year and Rep of the Year. This year’s award winners will be profiled in the April 30 pre-BookExpo America issue of Publishers Weekly and will be honored in New York City during the BEA convention.

Nomination submissions should go to Donna Paz Kaufman at dpazkaufman@comcast.netor fax (904) 261-6742. Include your name, phone number and industry affiliation. Candidates cannot nominate themselves. Your nomination will be included with the packet of materials used by the jury to select this year’s winners.

Link to the Publishers Weekly article