Harry Potter

June 2003 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30           May   Jul Home Who is David Harris?   Poetry index Haiku index Book list 2005 Book list 2004 Book list 2003   Other blogs I visit Cosmic Variance BookSlut tympan SpaceTramp Jen Crispin Michael Nielsen Virtual Occoquan pharyngula This Modern World cafe madbard Dr. Omed's Tent Show Revival McGee's Musings Pedro Salon home Salon Blogs: - Updates - Rankings - Start your own blog Subscribe to this blog in Radio: E-mail this blog's author, David Harris:

Thursday, June 19, 2003 Finished reading Harry Potter 5 Well, I just made it to the end of Harry Potter 5... and I'm still not going to reveal any specific details but it's quite a whirlwind ride. Once again, the book seems to be rushed to a conclusion and there are many unanswered questions, but we already know there are at least two more books to go... Did I just say at least? Am I implying that the story has been nicely set up for books beyond number 7? Hmmmm.....   11:55:38 PM  Your views [] Why is there an embargo on Harry Potter 5? In an earlier post, I suggested reasons why bookstore owners might want to break an embargo on the release date. I thought I should get back to the topic and explain why the embargo is actually important. Essentially, the embargo helps small and independent bookstores. When a bestseller is released, distributors typically deliver books to the largest stores first. If there is no embargo, those stores can get the books on the shelves before the independents have even received their copies - and those smaller stores may have to wait days before they get their copies, by which time, the market could be considerably reduced. Even more damage can be done by customers going to the independents asking for the books and not being able to buy them. Those customers then get the impression that independents simply can't stock the books the customers want to buy. This loss of faith in the independents is catastrophic for their business. After considerable lobbying, independents have been able to secure embargoes to prevent the larger stores gaining a competitive advantage purely due to their size and the preference of distributors to deal with large quantities. So the embargo really is a big deal. Independent bookstores are one of the last bastions of good and diverse literature and do need to be protected. (I'm not saying all large bookstores are evil - just that by their nature, they are unable to stock many of the titles that discerning readers may find valuable.) I spoke with some independent bookstore owners today and they are very disappointed with the independent that sold me my copy of HP5 - they think that bookkeeper should have known better and is doing the industry a disservice. As such, I am sticking to my guns in not revealing the location of the bookstore that sold me the copy and I am also not revealing specific plot elements.   9:00:56 PM  Your views [] British interviews Just chatted with a couple of British media organisations - they are very interested and want to know about the plot but have decided they won't risk printing/broadcasting anything because of the lawsuits flying around... The secret is safe a little longer...   8:51:47 PM  Your views [] Newspaper interview I was at the pub after work this evening and happened to look at my mobile phone to notice I had missed half a dozen calls. They turned out to be (along with three emails) from a journalist who had heard one of my radio interviews and wanted to talk about the book. We chatted for a while - me slurring my words - her finding it all very amusing. The best quote from the article is likely to be that I would have finished reading the book except that I went to the pub... But both she and I are Australian and I used to write for her newspaper so I don't really mind that story getting out. My parents and grandmother will find it amusing, no doubt. For those in Australia, check tomorrow's Courier Mail for the article.   8:23:28 PM  Your views [] Third and fourth radio interviews online A twelve minute interview with ABC Brisbane: http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s883106.htm An excerpt to listen to and a transcript on PM, Australia's top current affairs radio program! http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2003/s883898.htm   9:35:16 AM  Your views [] < % radio.macros.weblogEditBox ()%>

© Copyright 2006 David Harris.
Last update: 1/25/2006; 2:06:48 PM.

Powered by