The CBC reports on a minor publishing scandal taking place north of the border – a Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, sold 15 copies of JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” last Saturday.
The book, the sixth and latest in the series, does not officially go on sale until this Saturday at 12:01 am, and the publishers have been going to extraordinary lengths to keep it under wraps until then.
The Canadian publisher of book has now obtained a court injunction that formally prevents anyone with an early copy of the book from revealing any information about its plot before the official publication date. The injunction also requires anyone with an early copy of the book to return it to the publisher.
However, if just adhering to the law isn’t enough to get people to return their copies of the book, the publisher also has offered to provide those who give back early copies with a reward – an autographed copy of the novel, which will be given after 12:01 am on Saturday.
More than 10 million copies of the new Harry Potter book have been printed in anticipation of enormous public demand; Amazon.com already has more than 800,000 pre-orders for the book.
The book, the sixth and latest in the series, does not officially go on sale until this Saturday at 12:01 am, and the publishers have been going to extraordinary lengths to keep it under wraps until then.
The Canadian publisher of book has now obtained a court injunction that formally prevents anyone with an early copy of the book from revealing any information about its plot before the official publication date. The injunction also requires anyone with an early copy of the book to return it to the publisher.
However, if just adhering to the law isn’t enough to get people to return their copies of the book, the publisher also has offered to provide those who give back early copies with a reward – an autographed copy of the novel, which will be given after 12:01 am on Saturday.
More than 10 million copies of the new Harry Potter book have been printed in anticipation of enormous public demand; Amazon.com already has more than 800,000 pre-orders for the book.
- KC's View:
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Amazingly, we are talking about fewer than 96 hours before the book becomes available…
It all seems like much ado about nothing. On the other hand, it certainly seems like a successful marketing campaign.
Hope the book is good.
