Link: Analysis: They’re just wild about Harry Potter
The demand for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling, which will be released on Saturday (21 June), is unprecedented in book publishing history.
It beats the previous book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which had pre-order online sales of 65,000 in July 2000, at the time also an e-commerce record, although five times smaller than this month’s figures.
Last year Harry Potter helped publisher Bloomsbury boost its profits and revenue. The company’s pre-tax profits for 2001 surged to £9.3m, 62% up on the previous year.