Reworked from the Chicago Tribune:
J.K. Rowling is more than a writer. She’s the creator of a mega brand. Whether or not that was her intention, it remains to be seen.
On the announcement of the forthcoming release of the sixth book in the Harry Potter series, retailers are speculating that the book could sell upwards of 11.6 million copies nationally.
“Sales from the last Harry Potter book grossed as much as a major Hollywood movie in its first week of release,” Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, said Tuesday.
“We expect this next book in the series to make publishing history once again. We’ve already collected 500,000 e-mail requests from our customers waiting to be notified of the date of the next book. so this announcement is very welcome news for readers everywhere.”
About 260 million copies of the fantasy series, which debuted in 1997, have sold worldwide.
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