Harry Potter has performed a new vanishing act

What's a bestseller list with no Harry?
Toronto Star May 06, 2008


For the first time in nearly a decade, the New York Times bestseller lists will be without a title featuring J.K. Rowling's hugely popular young wizard. And the character is finally disappearing from the Canadian rankings as well.

This Sunday's New York Times will be Potter-less for the first time since Dec. 27, 1998, when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (as series opener Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was titled in the U.S.) made its debut on the paper's bestseller list. The streak has ended with the dropping of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published last July.

Over the years, the Potter books became such prominent mainstays on the New York Times bestseller lists that the paper kept creating new categories to accommodate the phenomenon, first introducing a children's list in 2000 and then, four years later, breaking the children's list into sub-categories, including a separate ranking of series books.

"Most publishers and booksellers welcomed the change, because the Potter phenomenon was keeping new titles off the fiction list," wrote senior editor Dwight Garner on the paper's book blog. "Some observers, though, felt Rowling was unfairly evicted – after all, they pointed out, adults read her books."

In Canada, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last made it onto Quill & Quire's monthly children's list in March.

"It's relative," said Quill & Quire editor Derek Weiler. "If Harry Potter is petering out as a reading phenomenon, it's petering out from being the biggest reading phenomenon of the last 10 years. I'm sure the books are still selling in healthy numbers."

J K Rowling is in town today

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling visits Toronto Tuesday for an appearance at the International Festival of Authors. The U.K.-based author will be reading from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final book in the popular boy-turned-teen wizard series, before hundreds of fans in a downtown theatre. She'll also answer questions from fans and hand out complimentary signed copies of the book to everyone in attendance.

This is Rowling's only Canadian appearance this fall.

Lucky little muggles got tickets to the event by random draw only. Rowling will hold a news conference before the book reading and journalists will no doubt be buzzing to see whether the author will address her recent "outing" of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Last Friday, Rowling admitted before a packed house at New York City's Carnegie Hall that the key Potter character is gay.

Source

[edited to add]
Several days after Rowlings shock announcement, it looks like most fans are not happy with Rowlings decision to "out" Dumbledore.

"I'm a gay fan and I'm not amused," read one commenter on the AfterElton.com blog, a site devoted to gay and bisexual men in the entertainment and media industries.

"Firstly, how very 'nervy' of her to out him after all the books have come out and it won't harm her sales," the commenter wrote. "Secondly, not a single rumour of this in the books. Nothing."

Predictably, right-wing Christian groups in the United States have also weighed in following years of assailing the "Harry Potter" series due to its focus on witchcraft. This time, Rowling's alleged crime is making homosexuals seem normal and kind-hearted to young readers.

[...]

"Part of the theme of the books is the fact that the adult world is very secretive. Book by book, Harry Potter finds himself drawn into these adult machinations, and Dumbledore is presented as a man of great secrets, so this just adds one more layer to him," he said.

"J.K. Rowling is a smart enough woman that she knows if she'd waved the rainbow flag, it was just going to draw attention in a way that she didn't want; it would have taken away from the story and become a distraction. I think the way she's handled it is perfect."

But Canadian children's author Eva Wiseman, who's nominated for a Governor General's Award for her book "Kanada," wondered why Dumbledore's sexuality was relevant at all in an adventure series of children's books about wizardry and witchcraft.

"If you have a character and if the fact that he's gay is important to the plot, of course you would mention it. If you needed it to make the book more relevant or advance the plot, then you would mention it ... but if it doesn't make any difference to the plot or it's insignificant to the story, then why bother mentioning it?"

Wiseman has her suspicions.

"Maybe she needs more money!" she said with a laugh of Rowling, who is the second wealthiest female entertainer on the planet, after Oprah Winfrey.

Source

Harry Potter, Challenges and Surgery

So, now that the Harry Potter Hype is officially over, It's time to move on. Except for those of you are right now reading the final Volume of the series. And of course we all know that HP and the Deathly Hallows was released at midnight local time last night (7 and a half hours ago as I write this). According to the detailed Review on Wiki, it's all about death, and more deaths, so I'm in no hurry to read it.

Right now I am unemployed, and waiting for surgery. I will be going into Hospital on Thursday 26th July, and will probably not be in any condition to write for anywhere from a week to a month afterwards. So this Blog will be silent for a while.

As for the Challenges. There has been quite a lot of discussion on the Challenges Yahoo group about whether or not we MUST stick to those books that we originally nominated for each Challenge. Normally I would try and stick to the list if I can, but right now since I dont have much time, I'm just going to read any book that fits the challenge parameters, because I want to finish as many challenges as possible in the next 5 days.

And I am hereby officially dropping out of the Something about Me Challenge since I probably wont be in any condition to read during August & September.

Harry Potter magic spells losses for booksellers

You may have noticed that I havent mentioned Harry Potter before. Thats because I'm not a kid and I dont have a crush on him. I'm old enough to be Harry's mother - and Daniel's too for that matter. LOL

I've seen the frenzy (there is no other word to describe it) in the bookshops to sell the most HP books. And the latest frenzy to get the most advance orders for the last book due out, in just 6 weeks.

Anyway there was an interesting article on Yahoo today about how most bookshops will not make much if any profit on the last volume despite have thousands of advance orders, because they have discounted them so much, that they lose their profit margins.

Everywhere you go there is huge, ridiculous discounting by the chains," said Graham Marks, children's editor at the British-based trade magazine Publishing News.
"They are literally not going to make one penny out of the book. It is stupid - just throwing money away ... The world has gone mad."

I agree with calling it stupid. Sure people will buy the book at $19.99, but since it is the LAST book in a very popular series, they should also be willing to buy it at the retail price of $35. Or they can do what I do - wait 6 months, reserve it at the library and read it for free. Thats what I have done with every other Harry Potter book, and I dont expect this one to be any different.