Important Harry Potter News

Here's a roundup of recent news related to the upcoming release of Scholastic's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

• Scholastic recently announced that booksellers participating in its Retailer Coupon Program can access sales figures indicating the number of copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix sold through its school book fairs in their regions. Sales figures are broken down by zip code within each state. Booksellers can access this information through Scholastic's Harry Potter Bookseller Help Desk at www.scholastic.com/custsupport/booksellers/hpv.htm. Scholastic anticipates this will help booksellers estimate how many copies of the book to order. (To read more about the Retailer Coupon Program, click here.)
  

• To help educate both children and their parents about the importance of free speech, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is inviting booksellers to insert a flier about attempts to censor books in the Harry Potter series into the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The flier is available online in PDF format at www.abffe.com and outlines the recent banning of Harry Potter books in an Arkansas public school that was successfully challenged by two parents. More than a dozen national groups, including ABFFE, and author Judy Blume, filed an amicus brief in support of the parents who contested the ban. (For more on this subject, click here.) The flier also calls for Potter fans to learn more about fighting for free speech by either visiting the ABFFE online resource for children's involvement with freedom of expression, kidSPEAK! (www.kidspeakonline.org), or by joining ABFFE.
  

• Random House's Listening Library is providing booksellers with a link to a teaser audio clip for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: http://www.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin/ramgen.pperl/hp5teaseraudio.ram
  

  Booksellers can utilize this clip on their Web sites to promote the audiobook. Clicking on the link will not direct a customer away from the bookseller's site, but will allow the user's computer to open and access the clip. The audio clip is in real audio and, users must have access to real audio to play it.
  

  The attached clip may not under any circumstances be transcribed into written words.

• Booksellers are encouraged to enter the Book Sense Make Some Magic With Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix sweepstakes display contest for the chance to win a $2,000 credit for Scholastic books (present or future). To qualify for the bookseller prize, stores must submit pictures of their Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix display to Meg Zelickson Smith, associate director of Book Sense Marketing, by July 31, 2003. Pictures can be in digital or print format and can be sent by e-mail or post (owls discouraged) by the July 31 deadline. Questions should be addressed to Smith at (800) 637-0037, ext. 1239 or [email protected]. (For more on the display contest, click here.)