J.K. Rowling releases Thursday “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” a follow-up to Harry Potter

[Robbien]

“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” is a collection of five fables mentioned in the seventh and final book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Today, “Beedle the Bard” was already ranked No. 1 on Amazon’s British and U.S. Web sites, according to the Associated Press. Amazon is printing 100,000 copies of a leather-bound collectors’ edition priced at $100 in the United States, or 50 pounds in the U.K., and expects sell out.

The book’s global print run is 8 million copies. That sounds big - and undoubtedly seems like magic to hard-hit retailers - but compare it to “Deathly Hallows,” which sold 8 million copies in just its first 24 hours, according to AP. The Harry Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies and been translated into 67 languages worldwide.

Rowling has called the book a goodbye to the Harry Potter world. She wrote “Beedle the Bard” after “Deathly Hallows” was published. Initially, just seven handwritten copies were produced; six were given to friends and one auctioned for charity.

The author, who has become a billionaire with the Harry Potter books, is donating her royalties to the Children’s High Level Group, a charity she co-founded to support institutionalized children in Eastern Europe, according to AP.

http://blog.newsok.com/bamsblog/2008/12/03/jk-rowlings-tales-of-beedle-the-bard-goes-on-sale-thursday/

[ccharles000]

1. OMG OMG OMG OMG

I am so happy : )

[Robbien]

3. Yeah, I thought it was good news too

:D

[RedCappedBandit]

2. Only 100,000?

edit: nm, i see that's just the collector's edition

[Number23]

4. Anybody else think she planted furtile ground for a whole new series??

The whole Harry Potter story involved a boy who had both parents killed by Voldemort etc. etc.

In the last book, we had Tonks/Lupin's kid go through the same thing. Now, I may be indulging myself in some wishful thinking, but I think that Rowling could start a whole new series of books based on the little boy who's half witch-half werewolf as he grows up and tries to figure out who/what he is and who his parents were. I'd buy it!

And what would be even better was if she did a single book on Snape. His whole history up til the sticky end. For alot of people, he's their favorite character. There's plenty more Rowling could write about because I just refuse to believe that that's it. That there is no more story to tell!

[aquart]

5. There is the saying: Always leave them wanting more.