Sujeet
The Hindu Monday, Jul 11, 2005
Delhi getting ready to welcome Harry Potter
Mandira Nayar
NEW DELHI: It's a day that is likely to make the muggle publishing industry in the country believe in magic. Casting a spell on the literary world, the most popular wizard is all set to give "desi'' booksellers sleepless nights in more ways than one.
>From opening their shops at the crack of dawn to extending their hours
into the night, bookshops across the Capital are going that extra mile
for this one book -- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''. "We
have to get up at 4 a.m. to open the shop early. Last time there were
long queues outside the shop even before we opened. The distributors
will get the book only after midnight and will deliver it to us by 5
a.m. on July 16,'' said Amit Wig, Head of Retail at Om Bookstores.
Literary merits of the book apart, while J.K. Rowling might claim to be not very happy with any book she has written after "Prisoner of Azkaban'', for the publisher and bookstores "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is probably her `best' even before it takes to the shelves this coming weekend. "It is certainly unprecedented. In a year of big books, it is certainly our biggest. The pre-orders itself this year are a staggering 75,000 copies. The last book, "Order of the Phoenix", sold more than 1,20,000 through the year. It has certainly become a big publishing event,'' said an official from Penguin India.
"We are offering a discount for pre-bookings. Theme parties have been organised for the publicity of the event in all our bookstores across four cities. We are also organising a quiz at our store in the Capital,'' said Rajiv Choudhury, Chief Executive Officer of Apeejay Oxford Bookstore.
Beating `desi' fiction hollow, Rowling's pre-orders for the book alone is much more than the best sellers. Ten times bigger than most best-selling Indian books, the only other book that comes close to the young wizard is Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code''. With many more adults getting hooked to Rowling's vivid descriptions, Harry Potter has moved beyond the realm of fiction for kids to become a powerful figure in the adult world.
"Previously we sold only to children, now we sell about 30 to 35 per cent of the books to adults. The publishers have realised this too, so they have printed the books with a plainer cover for adults about a year and a half ago. But for this book, the adult version is expected to come only after five months. In England and the United States readers covered their books with newspaper, so that people didn't know that they were reading it,'' said Mr. Wig of Om Bookstores.
With pre-bookings for stores like Om Bookstores in Gurgaon ranking much higher than its outlet in Delhi, he still has to overcome the `dark' force here.
"The highest pre-orders we have got are from Kolkata and then Mumbai. Bangalore comes next and then the Capital," said Mr. Choudhury.
http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/11/stories/2005071112430100.htm