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Potter sets new record for postal department
The last book of Harry Potter, released on July 21, is such a hot seller that the postal departments worldwide are expected set a new record for delivering copies of the same book on a single day.
The United Nations Universal Postal Union estimates that more than 2.4 million copies of the book will be distributed in the United States, Canada and Britain and additional copies of the German version would delivered in Germany and Switzerland when it is released in October.
In the US, 1.8 million Harry Potter books are expected to be delivered. An estimated 80,000 will be delivered by Canada Post while in Britain, the Royal Mail will distribute 600,000 copies, with approximately one in 43 households receiving the book.
E-commerce and the postal sector have partnered up, as most books ordered online will be shipped by post, the UPU said.
Since the release of the first of the seven-book series in 1997, e-commerce has blossomed, with the postal sector becoming increasingly prominent in the distribution chain.
Globally, the number of ordinary packages sent surged 11 per cent, representing a total of 6 billion parcels, or 16 million package delivered per day.
To fulfill all deliveries, postal operators have adopted innovative solutions. The German and Swiss postal services began distributing books shortly after midnight in 2003 and 2005, and plan to do the same this year. (AP)(Posted on July 21, 2007)
Potter book is finally here
The wait is finally over for the fans of Harry Potter as the final installment in the seven-book series of the tales of the boy wizard hit bookstores in India on July 21.
Curiosity-stricken admirers indulged in some speed-reading to learn the fate of their hero.
Copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows authored by the British writer J K Rowling flew off the shelves as fans, who had placed orders for the book well in advance, queued up at the bookstores around the country to grab their copies.
Many people, most of them youngsters, had arrived at the bookshops as early as around 5 am (IST) to ensure they were among the first to get the book.(Posted on July 21, 2007)
Rowling implores NY judge to block publication of Potter guide
A three-day trial over an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia has ended with a flash of anger from J K Rowling.
The best-selling British author returned to the witness stand yesterday and told a judge that if he allows the fan-written lexicon to be published, it will clear the way for countless rip-offs of her books, as well as the work of other popular authors.
"I believe the flood gates will open," Rowling said, her voice rising. "Are we the owners of our own work?" Rowling was testifying for the second time in the
trial, which began Monday at a federal court in Manhattan. A federal judge will decide whether to grant Rowling's request to block publication of "The Harry Potter Lexicon," a guide to the characters, places and spells in her novels, written by a
passionate Potter fan.
A 50-year-old middle school librarian, Steven Vander Ark, compiled the material from a Web site by the same name that he had been operating for years. RDR Books, the small publisher that talked Vander Ark into putting the Web site into print, has argued that it is little different than any other reference guide to an
important novel, and should be allowed to go to press without interference.
On the stand, Rowling said she was "vehemently anti-censorship," and generally supportive of the right of other authors to write books about her novels. But she said Vander Ark had "plundered" her prose and merely reprinted it in an A-to-Z format.
A decision in the case is not expected soon. It will be weeks before lawyers in the case have finished filing legal documents, and possibly longer before a verdict is rendered. Patterson is deciding the case, rather than a jury. (Posted on April 17, 2008)
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