Good news for Harry Potter fans! There’s a rumor that JK Rowling may have finally been persuaded that the vast army of Kindles, NOOKs, and iPads should also be sprinkled with some wizarding magic, and the Harry Potter series may actually come to ebook form!
According to The Scotsman:
The Edinburgh-based writer has an estimated £620m fortune following record-breaking sales of the Harry Potter books and the success of the film franchise, and publishing experts say the e-book rights could be another major money-spinner for her.
Liz Thomson, editor of book industry website BookBrunch, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the rights for the e-books are sold for £100m.
“Experts believe that move could revolutionise the world of electronic publishing, triggering rocket sales of e-book readers such as Kindle and the iPad.”
I agree this could be huge for ebooks! Nate over at eBookNewser disagrees, arguing that only die-hard fans will repurchase them in e-form. However, think about how large the Harry Potter books are in paper form. Now imagine taking a long car ride or vacation with your kids, and having to lug at least one of their favorite HP books along for the ride. Instead, you could load it up on a Kindle or an iPad, and have the whole series with you without needing a back brace and another set of luggage.
And while the series has been available in a pirated form for some time, I don’t think that many people are sitting there hunting down pirated Harry Potter copies for their vacations. Have a few people done just that? Absolutely. But if they price the ebooks right (under $9.99), parents may find the convenience of a highly portable version worth paying for the books again. A true home run would be if someone were truly clever and added color pictures (and maybe even animated ones for the wizarding photos!) in the tablet versions!
If Harry Potter went to ebook form, would you re-purchase it, or buy it for the first time? Share your answer below!