TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: Could this one novel give booksellers and publishers a boost? British bookshops opened early as "The Casual Vacancy" went on sale - the first book for adults by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Rowling's name alone will attract readers - and the book's virtually guaranteed to top best-seller lists in Britain, the U.S and around the world.
GRACE PROCTOR, J.K. ROWLING AND HARRY POTTER FAN: "I couldn't wait to have it in my hands and then I'll read it as soon as possible, maybe in my lunch break, maybe now, a bit before work, and try and read it as quick as possible, and then read it again like all the Harry Potter's."
REPORTER: The record-breaking seven book and eight movie franchise about the boy wizard made Rowling what Forbes magazine called the world's "first billionaire author". Five years on her first foray into adult literature has attracted the sort of coverage that most writers can only dream of. Rowling did very limited publicity ahead of the launch of her story about life and class prejudice in a small English town. But that's not expected to dent sales says bookstore manager, Gary Powell.
GARY POWELL, MANAGER OF FOYLES BOOKSHOP: "A lot of the market that read the Harry Potter books were adults anyway, so I think they're going to identify with her style of writing. It's going to be one of our key titles for Christmas, absolutely, and it's going to sell really well from now through until next year as well."
REPORTER: The Harry Potter books changed the face of publishing - they sold 450 million worldwide. In the UK the series tops the list of recent best-sellers according to Nielsen Bookscan with over 31 million copies sold. That's followed by 10 million copies so far of the Fifity Shades trilogy by EL James. And then 5 and a quarter million copies of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". "The Casual Vacancy" reportedly saw pre-sale orders of 2.6 million. In the age of eReaders - it seems many book fans still want to get their hands on a hardback on publication day. Rowling herself has expressed a desire to avoid the "insanity" which surrounded Harry Potter publications, but booksellers hope this hype will also translate into sales. Joanna Partridge, Reuters.
COMMENT
The book's list price in the UK is £20. We saw in the video that Foyles is selling it with £5 off. However, other outlets are offering much bigger discounts: Tesco and Amazon are selling the hardback for £9.00, while the Amazon Kindle edition will cost you £11.99 (see here for a discussion of this seemingly crazy pricing strategy).
ALSO SEE
• JK Rowling: The Casual Vacancy – review (The Guardian)
• The Casual Vacancy: Review round-up and Twitter reaction (Mirror)
• JK Rowling's Casual Vacancy wins mixed response (BBC News)
• JK Rowling: US reviews slate The Casual Vacancy (The Telegraph)
• Marketing writers as ‘brands’ (The Hindu)
• Hypocrisy and the ruthless PR sorcery behind JK Rowling's invasion of her own privacy (Mail Online)
