Book 7 of the Harry Potter Series
Pretty big news in the e-book world today, as J.K. Rowling’s hit (super-mega-hit is more like it) series Harry Potter is finally available as e-books. Grab them on Amazon here:
The good news is that the prices are fairly reasonable, ranging from $7.99 (for each of the first three books) to $9.99 (for each of the remaining four).
This fills an important gap in the e-book world, and was probably the reason that a sizable chunk of people was holding off on buying Kindles or other e-readers. I have no doubt that this announcement alone will result in a noticeable bump in Kindle device sales. I would expect it to especially impact younger readers, who are now more likely than ever to start reading e-books.
The full series list:
- Book 1: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone ($7.99)
- Book 2: Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets ($7.99)
- Book 3: Harry Potter & the Prizoner of Azkaban ($7.99)
- Book 4: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire ($9.99)
- Book 5: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix ($9.99)
- Book 6: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince ($9.99)
- Book 7: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows ($9.99)
The reason these books have taken so long to finally become available on the Kindle (and other e-readers) was a simple one: the author didn’t want her works read as e-books; she preferred everyone to have the “paper & ink” experience. With all due respect to how Ms. Rowling prefers to read for herself, many millions of readers have already decided that we prefer the convenience, portability, and other features of e-books. (As an author, I’m always grateful for anyone to want to buy and enjoy my work, whether it’s on paper, on a Kindle, iPad, or inscribed on parchment scrolls. But she’s sold a few more books than I have, so I guess she wasn’t concerned about missing out on a few million sales here and there.)
In any event, I’m sure these e-books will do quite well (better late than never), and this announcement will make many of her fans quite happy. Welcome to 2012, J.K. Rowling!