New Harry Potter flies off shelves in Jakarta
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
He did not actually disappear into a puff of smoke but the Harry Potter look-alike made a huge impression on Sam, 5, at the launching on Saturday of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at QB bookshop, Pondok Indah.
"Cool...," the little boy said.
The latest in the series written by J.K Rowling was flying off the shelves in Jakarta bookstores with more than 800 copies sold in less than a day.
In fact, the book was the number one seller on Saturday at bookstores all over the world.
"We already have 220 of the 600 pre-ordered copies taken on Saturday," said Prasidawardani, head of QB bookstore's children's section. There are 900 copies of the book to be shared between the three QB outlets at the QB warehouse, she added.
Although the Harry Potter books are expensive for many Jakartans at between Rp 189,000 and Rp 225,000 a copy, the battle between Harry and his long-time enemy Voldemort has left local fans captivated and eager for more.
Published by US-based Scholastic and Britain's Bloomsbury, Rowling's latest book portraying Potter and his wise guardian Dumbledore comes in hard back.
"Customers started ordering the book from as early as February," Prasidawardani said, adding that most buyers were adults as the version launched on the weekend was in English.
Meanwhile, Sogo's book section Kinokuniya sold no less than 422 copies through its two outlets on Saturday. "Most of our pre- ordered copies have been taken and so we displayed 240 more copies," said Lina, a supervisor at Kinokuniya in Plaza Senayan, South Jakarta.
English bookstore Aksara sold more than 250 copies through its three outlets.
"We sold 70 copies in one day," said Evi, a customer service officer at Aksara's head office in Kemang. To sell as many copies of other books, Evi said, took at least a week.
"It is undoubtedly our top-seller," she said.
Many bookstores have staged special events for the launch ranging from art projects to science experiments for children -- even those who are not reading yet.
Well, in business, book selling included, all it takes is a little imagination.(003)