Scholastic Appeases Booksellers
Publisher revises decision to sell new Harry Potter at schools
Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2003
Scholastic announced March 26 that students who preordered the book through Scholastic Book Fairs at the full list price of $29.99 would receive a Harry Potter baseball cap and a certificate of purchase to redeem a copy of the book on its June 21 release date.
"We're grateful and delighted that Scholastic changed its book-fair policy," says Dale Spector, co-owner of the Yellow Book Road in La Mesa, CA. "We'd prefer it hadn't been sold through book fairs at all, because it will lead to confusion."
Order of the Phoenix, the long-awaited fifth volume in the popular series, is the first Harry Potter book to be offered by Scholastic Book Fairs before publication.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter fans can also expect a June 21 audiobook release of Order of the Phoenix. An unabridged format of the audio edition will be released on cassette and compact disc in the U.S. and Canada by Listening Library, the children's audio imprint of the Random House Audio & Diversified Publishing Group.
Harry Potter has been the most successful children's audiobook series in the company's history.
