It was a pretty awesome and wonderful experience, out of about 2500 people, 2499 were nice kind cool and patient.
Wow.
Now I'm home and gonna drink a beer and read a little.
T
PS. It is funny to see J.K. Rowling slam president Bush in the first paragraph. She must hate freedom. heeeeee ha!
Posts: 2752 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Good job on bringing thousands of fans their much needed dose of Harry Potter.
*sigh*
Got to work this weekend. Probably won't be able to read it until next weekend. Must. Resist. Spoiler. Thread.
Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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It's worth pointing out that bookstores aren't earning anything on Harry Potter, at least not this week - because everybody is treating it like the world's biggest loss leader. It's so heavily discounted that when you add the cost of extra employee hours stocking huge quantities and staying open extra hours to deal with demand, most bookstores (and other places where it's selling) are LOSING MONEY on every copy sold.
Rowling is the only person guaranteed to make huge sums - and I'm fine with that! For once, the author rakes it in <grin>.
What the discount chains like WalMart and CostCo and Sam's Club and Target are doing is pricing it so low that even if they lose money, they'll still get you in the store to buy it from them. Their identity as money-savers is more important to them than the six cents a copy they lose on Harry Potter. Better to lost that money than to be undersold!
What the bookstores are hoping is that even if they can't match the Sam's Club price, you'll still buy it from them and then buy something else, too, while you're in the store. And I approve of THAT, too, since I have a new book out that is getting prominent display in at least a few stores, as people hope that HP buyers will also pick up Magic Street ...
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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"you'll still buy it from them and then buy something else, too" That definitely worked, Borders was packed and alot of them weren't even online for the Harry Potter book. Even I took advantage of the 25% off every book sale and bought a different book.
Posts: 853 | Registered: Feb 2004
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We received one case of 10 copies, and sold them all this morning at $19.98. I got to keep the box they came in, which is this ultra-cool white cardboard box with sinister green print that says stuff like like the title and street date: 7/16/2005. Do not open until!!!
Very cool. I bet I could sell the box on eBay even!!!!!...
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I put in my hold order at the public library--I am 13th in the holds queue, and it will be delivered to the library closest to me for pickup. (My library is a big city library, part of a library co-op that includes about fifty libraries) and they ordered dozens of copies.) I may not be among the first to read it, but it isn't costing me a penny, either. This gives me time to re-read The Order of the Phoenix at my leisure.
Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Yeah. I was amazed to find out that even with the 800 copies of HP that the Walmart here ordered, the store made a total of $150 before extra costs. It made me laugh a good bit.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I got the very first one off the palate at Sam's Club. Just like OotP. I finished it it about an hour ago. It's so good.
By the way, Mr. Card--are you going to review HBP? I think I remember being disappointed that I never saw your take on OotP.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I went to Stop and Shop at midnight for mine. There were people there buying groceries. Groceries. I don't mean like, while they were waiting for the Harry Potter line to get shorter. They got their food, paid for it, and left. I got my book. Very pretty book. I love my book.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Midnight is always the best time to go shopping for groceries because the lines are short and you can move the cart around without so many annoying traffic jams. Three in the morning is even better, but midnight is good.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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My 14 year old has been grumbing that it's not fair that the book is going on sale on Shabbos, and he had to wait until after the Sabbath is over to be able to get his copy. But then again, his school friends are all in the same boat, so it's not as if they will have read it before he got a crack at it. So I tried to treat it as a life lesson "Things don't always fall your way. Get over it."
My sympathy underwhelmed him.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by MidnightBlue: I went to Stop and Shop at midnight for mine. There were people there buying groceries. Groceries. I don't mean like, while they were waiting for the Harry Potter line to get shorter. They got their food, paid for it, and left. I got my book. Very pretty book. I love my book.
I got my book from Stop and Shop too. and ordered it from Amazon and got it today. If anyone wants to buy a completely unused half blood prince...
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I was the first person in the Barnes & Noble to get a copy last night. Hooray for not pre-ordering! Apparently the clocks are faster in the Music section instead of at the front registers Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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You know, Syn... I've always been told that if the mailman brings something and you don't want it, you can write refused on it and it gets sent back to the sender for free. Once you accepted it, or signed for it, or opened it you are out of luck, though.
I can't figure out why you bought it the second time at the store. Was it worth $20 to get it 16 hours earlier? I just can't comprehend that.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Orson Scott Card: What the bookstores are hoping is that even if they can't match the Sam's Club price, you'll still buy it from them and then buy something else, too, while you're in the store. And I approve of THAT, too, since I have a new book out that is getting prominent display in at least a few stores, as people hope that HP buyers will also pick up Magic Street ...
Heh, we walked out of our Waldenbooks with three very heavy bags...Just under a hundred dollars and the only hardbound in the bunch was HP6. Sorry, Scott, I completely forgot about Magic Street till I got home.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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dkw, Enigmatic, KrabbyPatty and Posable_Nurse and I were on hand at our friends' bookstore for their release party. They probably did their best day's business since opening three months ago. The little kids had a good time, I think. It was fun all around.
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I didn't go to the release party with the rest of the family, but KrabbyPatty said she's gonna be too busy to read this week so I can read her copy first if I go over to pick it up. Same as with the last three. So I'll probably go get it tomorrow after work.
Added: But I still wanna see the pictures!
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Yes - I probably should have taken time to edit that photo a bit. I'm too embarrassed to say how long it took me just to get it online.
Posts: 113 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I have just finished the book, it has shaken me to tears. The sadness of knowing that even though God lives forever and always, those that are evil win battles against good honest loving people.
Posts: 2752 | Registered: Feb 2001
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::joins Katarain on the un-bandwagon side::
I have never been into Harry Potter. Once, out of boredom and curiosity, I read the second one while working in the fitting room at a TJ Maxx. I was quite unimpressed.
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I only bought one copy, even though my local "Super" Target bought at least 50k of them. At a loss of six cents a book...that's about...oh screw it.
Posts: 60 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Nope, Katarain, you're not alone. I think I never even touched a Harry Potter book... And not gonna buy one, at least not in the near future. From where I'm standing they seem a little too childish for me. Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Some people just don't like fantasy. To each his own preferences. J.K. Rowling is a good writer and story teller, and for those who do not take it too seriously, the Harry Potter saga is entertaining.
Sure, the novels are about children, seen from the point of view of children. But that does not necessarily make them juvenile in the negative sense. Look at Orson Scott Card's novelet, Ender's Game, and the series of novels that sprang from it. The fact that the original story was written from a child's point of view did not prevent it from winning prestigious awards in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre.
Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
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And some folks like fantasy but just don't like the HP books. I've got couple friends who read WAY more fantasy books than me... but for whatever reason, they just don't like the HP books.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I think they are good, but not as good as a lot of things tha came before it, not when compared to the Prydian novels, teh Narnia, or TDIR series.
But I do like them, and her writing is getting better as they go, for the most part. They aren't as good as a lot of fantasy I read, but they are better than most. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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So I'll probably go get it tomorrow after work.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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