World waits for Harry Potter's last adventure
Harry Potter will been winging his way overseas like never before after the final instalment of the boy wizard's tale notched up record orders from abroad.
With less than a month to go before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hits bookstores, publisher Bloomsbury said today that export orders were already 17% ahead of total export sales for the previous book.
Bloomsbury, whose fortunes have been transformed over the past 10 years by JK Rowling's creation, will be following up the seventh and final book's July 21 launch with boxed set editions of the complete series on October 1. The paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is due in 2008.
Amazon said earlier this month that it has already racked up more than 1m pre-orders of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Chief executive Jeff Bezos admitted to shareholders that the web retailer would not make any profit on the bestseller, which is being widely discounted. Barnes & Noble, the US bookseller, said in April that it expects to take over 1m pre-orders, more than doubling its previous record.
Harry Potter has enjoyed huge success overseas and is published in 65 languages, while the films based on JK Rowling's books have pulled in substantial box office takings.
Bloomsbury's export orders come from more than 60 countries and are all for the English language version.
From Guardian Unlimited
