The Multi-Billion Dollar Harry Potter Phenomenon

Visiting the news shop in my local neighbourhood this lunchtime, I noticed the new Harry Potter book on display in the window. Heh! 'Noticed' isn't the word - this display took up the whole window area. Other displays inside the shop as well with copies of official launch of the latest Harry Potter blockbuster, which launched at midnight GMT. Thousands of kids (and not so kids) worldwide snapped up their copies, with ten million expected to be sold worldwide within 24 hours, according to a BBC report, including two million in the UK: Book retailer Waterstone's opened 140 of its stores at midnight and online retailer Amazon received 350,000 advance orders in the UK alone. Britain's WH Smith chain, which took half a million advance orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, said it sold at a rate of 13 copies per second overnight. Royal Mail said 150 extra trucks shifted more than 500,000 copies of the book from warehouses across the UK for delivery on Saturday. Quite a phenomenon. As is the author of all the books, rags-to-riches tale with someone who, according to the billion-dollar-plus global industry which has generated millions of sales and been credited with reviving children's interest in reading. And on that last point, Reader Comments... Neville Hobson is the author of the popular Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson's blog: