3 The global success of Harry Potter books 2

4.2.2 Publicity and the "Rowling-legend" 9

4.2.3 Unconventional marketing and Pottermania 9

4.3 Psychological and sociological factors 11

Appendix 1: Covers in the UK, Germany, USA and Japan 14

Appendix 2: Overview publication schedule 15

"(Harry Potter) will be famous - a legend - ... there will be books written about Harry -

every child in our world will know his name!"

J. K. Rowling (1997): Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, p. 20

Harry Potter is the short formula for an extraordinary literary success. More than 140 million people worldwide have already read the first four volumes. Another three volumes are planned. The author Joanne K. Rowling has managed to turn the kids of the Nintendo- and Pokemon-generation into passionate book reader

http://www.covertwocover.com/everything_harry_potter.htm (25.05.2002)

Various critics claimed that J.K. Rowling had copied content from other authors. Others affirmed that the books figuring witches and ghosts supported satanism and that this could negatively influence the young readers. But these issues could not derogate the success of Harry Potter.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Harry Potter, JK Rowling, European Commission, harry potter, Philosopher's Stone, Weisen Websites, Ravensburger Carlsen, Warner Brothers, Pipi Longstocking, UK USA, Nintendo- Pokemon-generation, harry potter books, potter books, children's books, jk rowling, children's book, book market, success harry, success harry potter, copies sold, word mouth, volume 4, global success harry, potter philosopher's stone, harry potter philosopher's,
Approximate Word count = 4604
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)