Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 18:36:20 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <wsfalist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] A Longish Report on Potter Madness . . .
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

This is from PW Daily for the 23rd.
It is long.

mjw

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Harry Makes History--Again

We knew it was big--the massive first printing, the media hype, the
midnight release parties, the assured instant-bestseller status. But
perhaps nobody knew Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix would be
this big, this fast. According to reports from Scholastic, an
estimated five million copies of the book were sold on Saturday, its
first day of release. That number shatters all publishing records,
including the high mark set by...Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,
which sold three million copies over its first weekend, back in July
2000. Records were similarly broken in the U.K., where more than 1.75
million copies of the book were sold on Saturday; Canadian retailers,
including Indigo Books and Music (267 stores) also reported record
tallies.

With the rapid sales pace, Scholastic is considering going back to
press. Scholastic spokesperson Judy Corman said the publisher "is
assessing the needs of our customers." A new shipment of books is
already headed to accounts that are running low, according to Corman.
The company has press time reserved and paper on hand if the decision
is made to go back for additional copies. A decision to print more
copies could come as soon as Tuesday morning.

On the media front, the Order of the Phoenix filled national and local
TV news coverage around the world this weekend and even snagged a rare
front-page review in the New York Times on Saturday. On this morning's
Today Show, author Stephen King was promoting his own work--the Dark
Tower series--but also commented on the Harry Potter phenomenon. "I'm
a huge fan," he said. "These books are for everyone. They'll be around
50 or 100 years from now; they will be part of our literary lexicon.
Over the weekend the gross for this book was higher than the
box-office gross for The Hulk [an estimated $62 million]. When have
you ever seen a book gross higher than a movie?"

Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon were among the many retailers
that also turned in record performances over the weekend. B&N, coupled
with B&N.com, sold 896,000 copies on Saturday and about 1.1 million
copies over the entire weekend. A company spokesperson said some
outlets in the chain had run out of books and were being resupplied
this week with stores in New York City receiving more copies by the
end of Monday Borders racked up 900,000 sales at 1200 Borders and
Walden outlets. Amazon shipped 789,000 in the U.S. on Saturday. They
did run out for a time on Sunday, but are being resupplied on Monday.
Bill Carr, director of books, music and video, says he hopes to be
able to offer 24-hour delivery by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

A spokesperson for Advanced Marketing Services couldn't provide
specific numbers on how many copies it sold through its warehouse club
accounts, although the spokesperson said "sales were much more than
anticipated, especially on the audio side. We sold a tremendous amount
of audio." Among some titles that AMS said are benefiting from
Phoenix's halo effect are the four-title boxed set of the four
previous Potter books, the six-pack set of Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew
titles plus The DaVinci Code and Living History.

So, we know the corporate numbers. But those are only part of the
story. Here are some other items and reports from the field--gauging
the reaction at the reader level.

Some lucky Potter fans got the surprise of their lives when J.K.
Rowling appeared for an impromptu midnight book signing at a
Waterstone's in her hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland. "I shook her
hand--I'm never going to wash it again," gushed a nine-year-old
admirer in a BBC Newsround report.

In suburban Pittsburgh, nearly 1,000 people showed up at the Cranberry
Barnes & Noble Friday night for Harry Potter fun (and the store sold
upwards of 750 copies). Fifteen-year-old Zack Rothman was ready; "I'll
probably be up all night tonight," he said. "Forty-some hours ago I
started counting down." He had even ordered a Potter costume over the
Internet to prep for the B&N lookalike contest. Unfortunately, Rothman
didn't win. That honor went to 13-year-old Kyle Blankenbicker, who
pocketed a $5 book coupon and a Harry Potter hat. But on such a big
night, there were no losers; both boys were thrilled to get their
hands on the book by 12:20 a.m. Asked how long it might take to plow
through the Phoenix Rothman replied "You mean just the first time?
Because I'm going to keep reading it over and over." Blankenbricker
added, "I'll probably take it to camp with me and read it there, too."

Just down the road in Wexford, Pa., book buyers experienced a
different sort of Harry celebration. Maryanne Eichorn opened the doors
to her new children's-only store, Munchkin's Bookshelf, for the first
time on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Copies of Order of the Phoenix
filled her front window displays; they were offered at the full $29.99
price. Browsers and buyers were treated to entertainment from a
magician and caricaturist and a wand-making activity. And like magic,
Munchkin's sold 81 copies before closing at 8 p.m. "The majority of
people coming in for the Potter book on Saturday had the Scholastic
coupon," Eichorn noted. She was happy that her store was listed as a
participating vendor on the Scholastic Web site. "Our local Barnes &
Noble and Borders ran out of Potter books, so we got some of those
customers, too." And better still, "Harry Potter was only about 20% of
our total business on the first day, so I took that as a good sign. We
exceeded expectations; it was excellent."

Saturday was also the first day in business for Square Books Junior in
Oxford, Miss., a new children's branch of flagship Square Books. "It
went great," said manager Katie Snodgrass of the new store's "stealth
opening." Work on the nearby outpost has been going on in secret for
months. Customers who showed up at the main store on Saturday morning
to buy the Harry Potter book were encouraged to participate in a
Potter scavenger hunt that ended up at the new--surprise--location.
"We sold out of our Harry Potter books [200 copies] in two-and-a-half
hours," Snodgrass said. "We had about 200 people between 7 and 9 a.m.
and we gave a 20% discount to everyone who came in their pajamas."
Snodgrass said she has ordered 50 additional copies of Phoenix
scheduled to arrive today. "More than half of those are already spoken
for," she added.

Betsey Detwiler at Buttonwood Books & Toys in Cohasset, Mass., said
that "loads of people" came out to her store at midnight. While
Buttonwood was selling the books for full price, they were donating
20% of their profits to local school libraries. They sold about 400 of
the 600 ordered on their first night, but "the fun stopped" the next
morning when Detwiler heard from customers that a man from the Shaw's
supermarket next door was actively soliciting customers to the food
store, where they were selling the book for $10 less than Buttonwood.
A quick talk with the manager stopped the solicitation, but
Detweiler's frustration remained. "It's hard to be upbeat when the
supermarket next door and the camera store across the street and
everyone is selling the book," she said.

In Illinois, the B&N in Bloomington ran out of copies on Saturday,
though by Sunday there were still plenty of copies at the Borders in
Normal. A Target in Hackensack, N.J., had run out of books by Saturday
night, and Hopscotch, a children's bookstore in Nyack, N.Y., was sold
out by its midnight opening, because of pre-orders.

The Learned Owl in Hudson, Ohio, sold 1,200 copies over the weekend;
more than 3,000 people turned out for its Harry Potter event, which
turned Main Street into Diagon Alley (delicacies such as Gryffindor
Grog and Moaning Myrtle Muffins were served), and attracted
international media attention.

At the Book Rack and Children's Pages in Essex Center, Vt., the store
sold 150 copies in the first few hours after midnight, and another 350
copies on Saturday, according to bookseller Beth Wagner. In contrast,
the store sold 12 copies of Hillary Clinton's Living History in the
first week, "which was a really big book" for the store, Wagner said.
In New York City, Toys 'R Us in Times Square was the de facto "ground
zero" for the launch of Harry V nationwide. Jim Dale, narrator of the
Listening Library audios, started reading from Chapter One at about
11:50, as dozens of children listened with their mouths open, hearing
the long-awaited story for the very first time. Precisely at midnight,
the boxes behind the registers were opened as sales commenced; at one
point, the line to get into the store stretched from Broadway all the
way east to Fifth Avenue. The customers were notable for their
diversity: all ages, all colors, all shapes and sizes--a true
cross-section of the population. An excited Barbara Marcus, president
of Scholastic, who attended the festivities with her family, told PW
Daily, "In the midst of all the craziness and all the logistics, you
have to step back and realize it's so remarkable. We are publishing a
children's book and it's a great children's book, and we're really
lucky that we're publishing this book. And it's great to be reminded
that it always was about the kids." Listening Library publisher Tim
Ditlow, commenting on the fact that the moment everyone had been
working long and hard toward had at last arrived, said, "How do you spell
relief? M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T!"

Elsewhere around the city, big crowds counted down the seconds until
midnight at places like Books of Wonder, the Scholastic store, and
various Barnes & Noble locations. The B&N at Lincoln Center, where an
inordinate number of film crews and reporters covered the events at
the stroke of midnight, ran out of copies by Sunday, though the Food
Emporium up the street (as well as Tower Records and CVS) had copies
available.

Books of Wonder sold more than  450 copies on Friday night, according
to manager Kaylee Davis. Their doors were open until three minutes to
three in the morning, when the last book of the evening was sold. City
Bakery, located across the street from the bookstore, stayed open late
Friday night as well and provided free cookies to the store. There was
also a line outside the door Saturday morning, much to the surprise of
staffers, and another 100 or so books were sold.

PW's Queens reporter tried to buy the book at a Barnes & Noble in
Forest Hills on Saturday morning but there were no copies to be had;
she ended up coming into the city to buy a copy at Shakespeare and Co.
on lower Broadway. The Shakespeare and Co. on Lexington Avenue had
plenty of stock as well, according to our Upper East Side reporter;
they had 500 copies on hand on Friday and by Monday morning they'd
sold 151.

Elsewhere in Manhattan, a PW stringer sighted a man reading Order of
the Phoenix while walking down 42nd Street, so engrossed in his
reading that he plowed right into a hot dog cart. As long as he (and
the hot dogs) weren't injured, that's the kind of report we like to
hear.--PW Staff

For those who want a sneak peek at PW's review of the book (warning:
spoiler alert), click here.
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articlei=
d=CA306935

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