Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

At midnight, ‘Order of the Phoenix’ descends on bookstores

At one second after midnight tonight the Harry Potter floodgate will fly open.

Las Vegas Valley bookstores will be inundated with hundreds of sleepy young fans of the student sorcerer, eager to buy "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth in the series of children's books by British author J.K. Rowling.

At many stores, Potter parties are planned for children who can hold their eyes open until the witching hour.

The festivities at Barnes & Noble, 8915 W. Charleston Blvd., begin at 8:30 p.m. The store, which has been transformed into a mini-Hogwart (the school of witchcraft and wizardry attended by Potter), will remain open as long past midnight as is necessary to fill orders.

"We expect a minimum of 200 children will attend the party," said Leigh-Ann Melton, community relations director for the store. "Our employees are dressing up as Potter characters; the stage in the children's department has become the Forbidden Forest." There will be trivia contests, arts-and-crafts events, a store version of the Quidditch game (played on flying brooms in the movie/novel) and a professor who will read tea leaves.

And magician Lance Burton will give a special performance beginning at 11:30 p.m. The store has only been open for six weeks. It is being christened by one of the biggest book-releases ever, if not the biggest.

According to the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the fourth in the series, had an initial print run of 4.8 million copies (40 times as many as an average best seller.)

The first printing of "Order of the Phoenix" was 8.5 million. Publishing consultant John McHugh, of Glendale, Wis., says the printing of 8.5 million books may be a record.

"It shows enormous confidence on the part of the publisher," he said.

McHugh said the publisher isn't taking a big gamble.

"It sells itself at this point," he said. "Harry Potter has become a brand name, with tremendous merchandising appeal."

Best-selling authors such as Stephen King, John Grisham and Tom Clancy typically command an initial print run ranging from about 250,000 to half a million copies of their popular novels.

But their target audiences are strictly adults. Harry Potter is a crossover hit, appealing to both children and grown-ups.

Among the adults who are Potter fans is Burton.

"I pre-ordered mine on Amazon.com," said Burton, who is celebrating his seventh year of headlining at Monte Carlo.

Burton said he discovered the series when he was shooting a television show in his theater.

"One of the people working on the production asked me about Harry Potter," Burton said. "She was trying to explain the book to me and eventually sent me a copy. I started reading it and couldn't put it down."

He has now read all of the books in the series, including 1998's "The Sorcerer's Stone" (which was made into a movie in 2001); 1999's "Chamber of Secrets (made into a movie in 2002); "Prisoner of Azkaban" (1999) and "Goblet of Fire" (2000). "The books are so compelling," Burton said.

He said the books seem to have sparked some interest in magic among young people.

"But the type of magic in the book is not what I do," Burton said. "Harry Potter does real magic. He doesn't use trickery."

Burton said Rowling is a wonderful storyteller.

"She has created this complete other universe that exists within our universe," he said. "It's very clever and entertaining. When I read it, I empathize with the lead character, who starts out like an ordinary kid whose home life is kind of terrible and one day discovers he has these powers."

The magic of the series has been its effect on children.

"The greatest thing about it is that it has gotten a whole generation of kids who grew up with the Internet, MTV and video games reading books again," Burton said. "Teachers love it."

So do bookstore owners.

Page-turner

"I've never seen anything quite like this," said Travis Pugmire, manager of B. Dalton Bookseller, 1300 W. Sunset Road, in Henderson.

While many stores will be open at midnight to accommodate the buying frenzy, B. Dalton will not. However, the store will open early, at 5 a.m. instead of its usual 10 a.m. opening time.

Throughout the day employees will wear sorcerer's hats, read stories to children and play games in which promotional material is given away, such as Harry Potter glasses and stickers.

All Las Vegas-area Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Borders Books outlets have planned events and will be open past midnight.

Nancy Jefferis, spokesperson for the Barnes & Noble at 567 N. Stephanie St. in Henderson, said in addition to giveaways, children will be able to pose for photos next to life-size cutouts of Potter.

And art projects, spell casting, costume contests and puppetry will be offered.

"I went through the whole Harry Potter release thing ("Goblet of Fire") three years ago," Jefferis said. "Fans are really keyed up."

She said the only other relatively recent frenzy in book buying that she has experienced was in 1999, when King released "Green Mile" in serial form.

"Every week there would be a slim volume in the bookstore," she said.

There was also a rush over "Primary Colors," Jefferis said. The 1996 novel is a thinly veiled story about Bill Clinton.

But the excitement over those two novels pales in comparison to Potter. It is a hysteria that has spread nationwide, fueled by the fact that three years have passed since the most recent Harry Potter book was released. The movies released in the interim have only increased the Potter fan base.

An advertising campaign by Scholastic Books, Rowling's publisher in the United States, also has helped ignite the furor.

According to some reports, the promotional budget is between $3 million and $4 million, but Scholastic spokesperson Virginia Anagnos declined to put a specific dollar figure on the spending.

"Scholastic hasn't given out a number," Anagnos said. "Just say it is mulitimillion-dollar. The exact figure is hard to harness, given the cooperation with retailers around the country and what they will do independently. The value goes far beyond what Scholastic will actually spend."

Concerted effort

Cooperation is taking place from Alaska to Louisiana, from New York City (where a countdown for the book's release will take place at Times Square) to Los Angeles.

"One incredible bookstore in Chicago has convinced the whole downtown business community to participate in the event," Anagnos said. "One bank has transformed itself into the Gringott's Bank. A bakery is baking magic wands for the children."

In New Orleans, Octavia Books' festivities will feature a wizardry workshop by renowned theater wizard Frank Levi, who also will lead spell-casting games.

Diane Hatzenbuehler, an employee of Borders Books Music & Cafe at 10950 Charleston Blvd., said her store will conduct a Harry Potter look-alike contest.

Hatzenbuehler says she expects a couple of hundred children at the book release party, but there could be more.

"We have close to 2,000 books on reserve," she said.

Marge Foster, who works with Hatzenbuehler, has seen it all before. She was at the most recent Harry Potter release party.

"It was chaotic, but lots of fun," she said.

Donna Paz, a bookstore consultant from Fernandina Beach, Fla., says she has never seen anything on this level before.

"There is so much hoopla and publicity," she said. "There is truly a lot of magic behind it. Harry Potter is a gift to our culture, especially to people who operate bookstores and get to see children engage in literature, in reading for fun rather than as a school assignment.

"That is what makes this whole thing so unique and wonderful. I have not seen so much excitement about a story that has captured the imagination of both children and adults. Nothing else compares."

archive