The History of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Much of the information about the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince many know about, but there are certain aspects that are more obscure. It is kind of fascinating in a weird sort of way.

June 29, 2004
J. K. Rowling announces the title of her next book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

December 21, 2004
J. K. Rowling delivers the manuscript to Bloomsbury and Scholastic and a laydown date of July 16, 2005, is announced.

March 30, 2005
Scholastic announces a first printing of 10.8 million copies. (Trees around the world shudder.)

April 28, 2005
Listening Library signs Jim Dale to record Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, for a first printing of 635,000 copies, the largest ever for an audiobook.

May 5th, 2005
5.5 million temporary tattoos sent to retail accounts.

June 1, 2005
Scholastic announces a library sweepstakes where the winner is to receive the first signed copy of the US edition.

June 3, 2005
First related security breach where two men were arrested occurs in England after they tried to sell two copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to a reporter. Both were ordered to stand trial and released on bail.

June 4, 2005
10,000 flashing Harry potter pens were given out at the BEA. Attendees make a beeline to eBay where these pens are now selling for $4.99.

June 20, 2005
Barnes & Noble announces more than 750,000 preorders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have been generated. Final tally will top one million while Amazon’s US orders go over 800,000.

June 27, 2005
First shipment of the books arrive at Barnes & Noble’s main warehouse in NJ. The company expects to receive 124 tractor-trailor loads weighing more than 4 million pounds. They expect to sell 50,000 copies an hour. (B&N CEO Riggio is a media slut)

July 1, 2005
Scholastic announces the 10 winners of its “Why I Love Reading Harry Potter” essay contest. 8000 entries were received (there was an age limit). The winners will be flown to England on the evening of July 15 to hear J. K. Rowling read from the book. They given a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to read on the flight.

July 2, 2005
The single signed copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for the library sweepstakes arrives in NYC on the Queen Mary 2. It was packed in a steamer trunk and met by an armored car for pick-up. Almost more security than for the actual Queen.

July 7, 2005
The Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, sells 14 copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Raincoast Books, Harry Potter’s Canadian publisher, gets a pre-emptive injunction to prevent disclosure of the book’s contents. Purchasers of the book were asked to return their copies in exchange for a signed book plate. White House senior advisor Karl Rove denied responsibility.

July 11, 2005
Greenpeace starts a campaign called Save Muggle Forests where they urge Americans to buy Raincoast’s Canadian edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as a protest of Scholastic’s not printing the book on 100% recycled paper.

July 12, 2005
A pharmacy in upstate NY sells one copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The nine-year old customer admits to having read two pages and immediately makes 2000 new freinds.

July 13, 2005
In the wake of the London terrorist bombings, WH Smith changes the venue of its Harry Potter party from King’s Cross train station to Wimbledon High Street.

July 15, 2005
5000 stores prepare for Harry Potter release parties. No live owls available for rent anywhere.

July 16, 2005
Many did not sleep that night, but instead read the book through the wee hours of the morning after purchasing after midnight. Websites immediately start selling t-shirts depicting who killed who.

With the Harry Potter titles, Scholastic has pulled itself up by the boot straps and is now the strutting publisher of the decade. But it is interesting to note that even though Scholastic publishes the Harry Potter titles, they aren’t the only publisher and business to cash in on it. For instance UPS made a killing just by handling the 800,000 Amazon orders. Running Press, who prints the mini books and small sideline-type kits made off with a good impulse buy ratio during the Harry Potter release week. But the big one, in a little-known deal, publisher HarperCollins has been handling all billing for Scholastic since 2001. An estimated $8-9 million was made via this deal for the new book and over the life-time of the book it could grow to $200 million. And let us not forget J. K. Rowling, whose gross net now probably rivals the Queen’s.