From NPR: June 23, 2011
Starting this fall, for the first time, the Harry Potter novels will be available as e-books.
Since the series began its cultural ascent in the late 1990s, its fans — adults, children, and those who have grown up in the 14 years since the first novel was released — have created thousands of fan sites and more than 1 million fan fiction stories. This fall, that content will get an official counterpart.
According to an announcement by author J.K. Rowling, a new website called Pottermore, which will launch in October, will be the only place where digital versions of the series will be available.
Until now, the novels had been one of the digital publishing world's biggest holdouts. So what does this new website achieve? And why now? Some argue that Rowling and her publishers waited to offer e-books until they got as much as they could out of hardback and paperback sales. But Rod Henwood, CEO of Pottermore, says that it took two years to develop the site, and this is the year that e-books have really come into their own. They also wanted to time the launch to the end of the film series.
"Harry might have been perceived as dropping off," Henwood says.
Instead, excitement will now build for the site's launch in October. A competition will grant 1 million fans access before it opens to the public (in English, German, Spanish and French versions), and Henwood says the early users will have their own creativity put on display.
"We will learn from those users what they like, and what they don't like, and we will adapt and we will evolve the site," he says.
Read the rest of the story here.
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