Harry Potter eBooks to be officially sold

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by anonymoose

In the news today. Google eBooks is going to be selling Harry Potter too.

Google Strikes Deal With J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore for Harry Potter Ebooks
http://mashable.com/2011/07/20/google-pottermore/

Google ebooks are not compatible with Kindles. They use ADE PDF or ePub. It'll be interesting to see if g'books is going to *also* sell the books, or they've gone back on their claim to make them available for all e-readers.

I'm still thinking they'll release watermarked PDFs as their "all devices" format. I'd be happy to see multiple formats, but I haven't seen anything that indicates they even remotely understand why that'd be good. I've seen a lot of chatter about "readable on any device"--but all devices currently sold support PDF. (At least, I think they do; it looks like the ebookwise is no longer available new.)

[pilotbob]

I assume they will be on the google books platform in addition to the PotterMore site where they will be DRM free. At least, unless they are changing everything the previously announced.

BOb

[Quake1028]

So what are we expecting these to cost? $9.99 per book?

[stonetools]

I think what's happening here is that Pottermore is negotiating individually with all the major booksellers to present the Harry Potter books in each individual format at Pottermore and in their own store. Since Google Books are one of the smallest of the major booksellers and are the channel for independent booksellers, Pottermore did Google Books first. I expect agreements with all the individual booksellers over the next couple of months. Since Amazon and Apple are the biggest fish, their negotiations will take the longest, but they will fall into place eventually. Now agreements with the Big Six booksellers (Amazon, Apple, B&N, Google, Kobo and Sony) may not fulfill some abstract ideal of " all devices" but it will be close enough for most consumers.

As for DRM, Ms. Rowling is on record as truly fearing electronic piracy. I'm going to call this early. I am about 90 percent certain that there will be some form of DRM and 75 per cent certain that Pottermore will allow each bookseller to apply their own DRM, earlier statements notwithstanding . People say lots of things, but when it comes to action, they generally act in their financial self interest. Yeah, I know DRM doesn't stop piracy, blah blah blah, but that argument works for geeks, not for major league authors and booksellers, and we're talking about the biggest pot of money in ebook publication history.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I'm not sure that finally giving people what they've been asking for for years really counts as "milking".

I would do the same thing in her position

Could see this coming a mile away. The final movie is now out (about to come out, as of when this was announced), so there's nothing left to get the fans all excited except 1. ebooks and 2. special all 7 movies dvd bundles.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by queentess

I would do the same thing in her position

Could see this coming a mile away. The final movie is now out (about to come out, as of when this was announced), so there's nothing left to get the fans all excited except 1. ebooks and 2. special all 7 movies dvd bundles.

Agreed.

While her stalling has annoyed me to no end, it is her right to handle the ebooks the way she wants. I wouldn't say she is milking anything, I would say she is being a business woman.

I will buy the books when they are available. If they are in EPub only, I will strip the DRM and convert them. And I will delete my less then legal copies from my Kindle.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by queentess

I would do the same thing in her position

Could see this coming a mile away. The final movie is now out (about to come out, as of when this was announced), so there's nothing left to get the fans all excited except 1. ebooks and 2. special all 7 movies dvd bundles.

Actually, the new Pottermore site is going to offer more than just ebooks. There will be some new content, gaming and official fan forums. If you have kids who love Harry Potter, be prepared to pay out some more.
I agree with you, Ms. Rowling is a smart businesswoman, and she understands the virtue of keeping her franchise fresh and relevant.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

While her stalling has annoyed me to no end, it is her right to handle the ebooks the way she wants. I wouldn't say she is milking anything, I would say she is being a business woman.

Frankly, if Rowling didn't earn another cent starting today, she would still have enough money to live very comfortably for about 10 life times.

BOb

[elcreative]

But she doesn't just sit on it and wallow, she is well known for her charitable activities and donations...

[Ken Maltby]

I wonder if this is the first big multi-movie, not TV Mini-series, or just trilogy, treatment
of a popular book series? I can think of a few TV series that were based on a series of
novels, but they usually took enough liberties with the screenplay that there was little
if any correspondence with the book series.

Might there be hope for the PERN series? The "Childe Cycle"/Dorsai series?
One can only hope that the authors, copyright holders, publishers and movie studios
see this as a viable approach.

Luck;
Ken

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

I wonder if this is the first big multi-movie, not TV Mini-series, or just trilogy, treatment of a popular book series?

You are perhaps unaware of Ian Fleming's novels? (Perhaps not quite a "series." Still, multiple movies from multiple connected books has been done.)

Might there be hope for the PERN series? The "Childe Cycle"/Dorsai series? One can only hope that the authors, copyright holders, publishers and movie studios see this as a viable approach.

I do have hopes that, between HP and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, more filmmakers will consider SF & Fantasy series, not just single novels, as potential sources for big-budget movies.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I do have hopes that, between HP and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, more filmmakers will consider SF & Fantasy series, not just single novels, as potential sources for big-budget movies.

I don't know. I thought Lord of the Rings was well done but the HP movies were pretty bad. They gutted the subtle relationships in favor of the action/adventure elements. Far too much of the books were lost in the translation.

The final scenes in the last movie are the perfect example. By forcing the final fight to be more action packed and changing it from the way it was written in the book we lost the discussion of magic driven by love and the power of remorse to heal the soul. Both were topics throughout the book (Lily's sacrifice protects Harry, the various individuals who loved Harry and sacrficed themselves to save them, Snape's remorse causing him to change sides and attone on some level for his initial poor choice, Voldemort's lack of remorse leading to a really bad afterlife experience) and both were disgaurded in the final fight scene.

[Dulin's Books]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/21/j...your-e-reader/

The voluminous tomes will be making their exclusive electronic debut through Google's eBooks platform as part of the Sony-backed Pottermore site launching this October. El Goog's open format plays nicely with "more than 80 ereaders" -- we're looking at you iRiver Story HD -- and can also be downloaded in app form for iOS and Android smartphones.

you wont have to go thru google books to buy them- google books will will be behind the integrated store in the Pottermore site and providing fulfillment. you'll also be able to use google chek out to buy other Potter stuff

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/21/j...your-e-reader/

you'll also be able to use google chek out to buy other Potter stuff

engadget says "preferred"
http://mashable.com/2011/07/20/google-pottermore/
says "exclusive".

Anyone know which is correct?

[Dulin's Books]

i believe it means just no paypal.