NovelWorld

Which is too bad, since the amount of good achieved by this seven-volume fantasy series is incalculable. Almost single-handedly, the literary excitement generated by these books have introduced an entire generation around the globe to the thrill of reading, the delirious excitement of waiting for a new installment, the peak experience of opening a book you’ve anticipated for months.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, the concluding volume of the series, will make publishing history. It has a 12 million copy first printing. Peaking with the release of the final volume in July, the six existing books have created an ongoing global phenomenon. In a year when The Da Vinci Code was the No. 1 bestseller, Harry's latest installment sold more copies in 24 hours than Da Vinci Code sold that entire year. Thanks to these books, kids across the economic spectrum have experienced the book-lover’s high.

That’s a huge gift. We’ve got Harry Potter to thank for it.

Bookstores can use a shot in the arm right now. Half of the bookstores in the United States have collapsed in the last ten years. Those surviving bookstores may well learn a lesson here – that the value in reading which we take as implicit doesn’t necessarily translate across the generations. Young people today have a zillion other options for entertainment, an army of alternatives a lot flashier than reading. Books are old technology. Harry Potter was an unexpected jolt announcing that books aren’t just for old people, they’re as exciting as a video game, they’re smarter and deeper than movies. 

A youth-driven bestseller was totally unexpected.

If we longtime book lovers don’t continue to open the eyes of younger generations to the thrill of reading, books as entertainment are going to amble off into the sunset in the tradition of vaudeville and chamber music. In that sense, Harry Potter has worked some real magic. 

So, you say, where’s the evil?

No, no, be serious, I don't mean that kind of evil -- all that spooky magic that's raising the hackles of fundamentalists. I'm talking about a much easier evil to spot.

The evil is simply greed, as usual, but then what do you expect from Muggles?

First, the publisher has slapped an ugly $34.99 price on the book, an adult book price on a children’s book. Hmm, remember when Harry Potter cost $17.99?

How can they get away with it? Simple. The online giant and the mega-chains promptly slash the price below cost, back down to that comfortable old $17.99, snatching all the profits out of the hands of the independent bookstores who can't afford to follow suit. Year after year, neighborhood bookstores go out of business, left with untouched piles of Harry’s latest exploits, while mega-supermarkets and octopus book-chains transform heaping piles of Harry Potter books into loss leaders, gladly losing money to draw customers inside. 

At the A-word online behemoth, for instance, reservations for the final volume of Harry Potter have soared over a million. The book is discounted 49%. Little bookstores can actually purchase copies of Harry's new book more cheaply at the A-word or even the B-word (40%) than at Harry's publisher (30% off). Thought-provoking, huh?

While small American bookstores frantically throw Harry Potter parties, trying to make a social event out of the book’s release, many of the independent bookstores of Britain have actually taken a stand. Because of discount pricing, 25% of the independents of Britain will NOT be carrying Harry Potter at all. What a national tragedy. 

A much better solution doesn’t seem that difficult to me.

We’re all greening. We recycle our trash. We’re walking more and taking the bus. We know what’s right. So, I say, “Pay a fair price for Harry Potter.” It’s that simple. That’s my motto.  

What’s a fair price? Seriously, do I expect you to shell out the full ridiculous amount? Of course not. But consider, a bookstore stands to make 40% profit on a book for selling it. A book discounted 30% doesn’t leave much for the bookstore. Take off more than 30%, and the bookstore is losing.

You can’t expect little guys to lose for you. 

So, what’s wrong with just letting independent bookstores go the way of the buffalo and leave bookselling to the web and the big stores?

Here’s what’s wrong. Those big book machines provide generalized book-buying, which leaves out local publishing, alternative publishing, little presses, and all too frequently alternative political voices. Seattle is a book-reading city. Our taste here is a little deeper than airport reading. In a rainy city, people stay indoors a lot and read a lot. Neighborhood bookstores maintain diversity and local variety. They’re not part of the bestseller machine, promoting the latest slick, shallow super-title. 

Reading a good book is an irreplaceable experience for a young person, but does your kid know the joy of choosing a book?

Well, choosing, my friend, means walking through a bookstore and picking up books. Oh, I know, you can do a lot of clever things online, but the actual contact with books counts, the paper, the binding, the feel, the sense of welcome, the connection with a book whose title you’ve never heard of, that you decide to take a chance on – that only happens in the aisles of a bookstore.

Are you starting to eat locally? Okay, that’s food for your body – how about the food for your mind? Think about buying your books locally. 

And be fair about it. Pay a fair price for your pleasure.

Am I making my point? Let’s all repeat it together. “Pay a fair price for Harry Potter.”