Whack-a-Leak; The Papers' Peeks; Rowling Speaks

In what must feel like a game of whack-a-mole, Scholastic is doing its best to quash a number of Deathly Hallows leaks and spoilers, which now include reviews of the book printed in today's New York Times and Baltimore Sun. The Times reviewer claims to have purchased the book from a New York City store on Wednesday; the Sun's editor stated in a Washington Post article that a newsroom employee's relative received an early copy from online retailer DeepDiscount.com (see below).

Rowling's British publisher Bloomsbury issued a statement this morning expressing its extreme dismay at early sales of the book and thanking the media and the company's publishing partners the world over for observing the embargo—which, thus far, seems to have held everywhere else but the U.S.

In response to the Times' and the Sun's actions, Rowling herself today added a statement via Bloomsbury: "I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry's final destination by themselves, in their own time. I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry's last adventure for fans."

Upset fans are already on the warpath, specifically targeting the Times with angry posts and threats of boycotts and canceled subscriptions on the newspaper's Web site. The Leaky Cauldron, one of the leading fan sites, has issued a rallying cry to its readers, encouraging them to voice their disappointment over the early review in letters to the editor at the Times.
A form letter and links are provided on the Leaky Cauldron site.  

But the Times's and the Sun's breaches are only the latest in a series of embargo-busters that have kept Scholastic on its toes. Yesterday the publisher announced it was "taking immediate legal action" against online retailer DeepDiscount.com and its distributor Levy Home Entertainment for breaching the on-sale agreement and shipping copies of HP7 through the mail, which began arriving to customers beginning July 17. Scholastic has appealed to those who received the book early to keep it under wraps until July 21.

And earlier this week, before the shipping and review snafus, Scholastic learned of what is allegedly a digitally photographed version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that has been making the rounds of such file-sharing Web sites as Photobucket, Flikr, Pirate Bay, MediaFire and Digg.

Spokespersons from both Bloomsbury and Scholastic admit that some of the Internet leaks may appear to be authentic, though, as a matter of company policy, they offered no official confirmation that the posted photos of book pages are the real deal. Scholastic spokesperson Kyle Good told PW, "There is a lot of material on the Internet that claims to come from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but anyone can post anything on the Internet and you can't believe everything you see online." She added, "We all have our theories on how the series will end, but the only way we'll know for sure is to read the book ourselves at 12:01 a.m. on July 21st."  

However, Scholastic has been asking the various sites that are not complying with its strict July 21 embargo to remove any alleged HP7 material and is serving up subpoenas just in case. Good told PW that such action allows the publisher to gather information quickly "to try to keep spoilers, real or unreal, off of Internet sites that fans might be on." Social networking and gaming site gaiaonline.com was one of the first targets of the crackdown. Bloomberg reported Tuesday that after receiving a subpoena from Scholastic, Gaia Interactive had removed a posting of what a user claimed to be images of the book and temporarily banned the user.

The enforcements seemed to have a domino effect, at least to some degree, as various links posted by other sites to what they said were copies of the book quickly went dead on Tuesday.

But as the official on-sale hour draws near and more spoilsports come out of the woodwork, Rowling was compelled to post another anti-spoiler plea on her Web site on July 18. The updated diary entry reads: "We are almost there! As launch night looms, let's all, please, ignore the misinformation popping up on the web and in the press on the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'd like to ask everyone who calls themselves a Potter fan to help preserve the secrecy of the plot for all those who are looking forward to reading the book at the same time on publication day. In a very short time you will know EVERYTHING!"

Brit Bargain Bombast Continues

The heated Harry Potter discounting war in the U.K. has gotten decidedly ugly with giant retailer Asda (owned by Wal-Mart) engaging in a nasty battle of words—and legal action—with HP publisher Bloomsbury.

Last Sunday, Asda issued a press release accusing Bloomsbury of engaging in "blatant profiteering" by suggesting a retail price of £17.99 for Deathly Hallows when it sold the first title, Philosopher's Stone, for £11.99. The release went on to characterize Bloomsbury as "attempting to hold children to ransom" by selling at that price. 

According to reports from the Bookseller, Bloomsbury initially retaliated by canceling Asda's order for 500,000 copies of HP7 (and all other Bloomsbury titles), claiming the retailer was in arrears with their bills to the publisher. In addition, Bloomsbury initiated legal action to sue Asda for libel. A spokesman for the publisher was quoted as commenting: "Hands off Harry, Asda. He's too special for you. He has no desire to be dragged into your price wars. Please don't tarnish him with your grubby optimism and your naive publicity strategy."

By Monday, the battle raged on as Asda threatened Bloomsbury with a "breach of contact" action. But Tuesday brought a bit of sunshine: the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties. Asda paid its outstanding bill, made a formal apology to Bloomsbury and withdrew its press release, paving the way for the retailer's delivery of precious HP7 copies. 

Mention middle-grade and young-adult series and certain author names spring to mind: J.K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket, Rick Riordan, Christopher Paolini, Stephenie Meyer. These are, of course, writers whose hardcover series make frequent appearances on bestseller lists and garner plenty of media attention. Less likely to make headlines are the many children's series published originally in mass market or trade paperback format. Yet their continued success and steady sales have made them staples of many publishers' lists and crucial to their bottom lines. Children's Bookshelf spoke with a number of editors from houses known for their series publishing about their recent and forthcoming series and what they perceive as changes and constants in this end of the business.

Several common strains surfaced. Publishers launching series today tend to head out of the gate a bit more cautiously than in decades past, often signing up just four books. Series will sometimes debut with multiple titles, yet houses are more likely to stagger the pub dates of subsequent releases rather than routinely add to the series on a monthly basis. Editors cite a cluttered marketplace, limited shelf space and the many activities and media options competing for youngsters' attention as incentives to find a tantalizing thematic hook for fledgling series. And there was general consensus that today's tweens and teens, accustomed to a fast pace of life, are rather fickle when it comes to their reading choices and, after sticking with a series for a while, are eager to move on to the next new thing. 

Mixing the Tried and True and the New

At Random House, new series span a spectrum between those focusing on real-life, down-to-earth characters—in two cases characters familiar to an earlier generation of young readers—and those with an edgy appeal. In January, the publisher reissued four titles in Yearling's The Saddle Club series by Bonnie Bryant—Horse Crazy, Horse Shy, Horse Sense and Horse Power—each with a 65,000-copy first printing. "We felt that the themes of girls, horses and friendship are always popular and that these novels had withstood the emotional test of time," says Beverly Horowitz, v-p and publisher of Bantam Delacorte Dell. "We didn't even go back to add references to cell phones and other technological developments, since we felt that these books didn't need that." The publisher will bring back a total of 12 volumes in the Saddle Club series, which has sold seven million copies since its launch in 1988.

Starting with fall 2007 releases, Penguin's Frederick Warne & Co. imprint, which publishes the Beatrix Potter books and holds the licensing rights, will use inks, papers and printers approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, thus earning the right to use the new logo on its products. "We want our own category to be a leader," Cain explained. Peter Rabbit Organics, a line of natural foods that contain no added sugar, salts or trans fats and feature environmentally sound packaging, will be the first licensee to introduce "Peter Rabbit Naturally Better" licensed products in the U.S.

The impact of the program is potentially significant: more than 450 licensees worldwide market Peter Rabbit products to the tune of $500 million in annual retail sales.

DreamWorks Adds Reader's Digest to Roster

Reader's Digest has become the latest publishing partner for DreamWorks Animation; it will release interactive storybooks and viewers for Shrek the Third starting in fall 2007. It joins HarperCollins, Meredith and Kappa as the studio's key multi-property, long-term publishing licensees, with each on board from Shrek The Third through the next five DreamWorks films. Next up: Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 2.  

"All our movies have a lot of hard and true stories underlying the humor," reported Kristy Cox, the studio's head of publishing, which makes them a good fit for books. "And we have plans to make them as franchiseable as a movie can be."

For Shrek, the company's strategy to extend the property's life beyond the films includes not just DVD releases but a TV Christmas special, Shrek the Halls, which will lead to holiday-themed merchandise; a Shrek Babies brand for infant products; and a Shrek Princesses brand for girls. The latter two are related to characters introduced in Shrek The Third. Publishing tie-ins will include HarperCollins's Shrek Babies I Can Read Book and Shrek the Halls jacketed picture book, both planned for the fourth quarter of this year.