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Publishers' deluxe gambit

08.06.07

The Wall Street Journal reports on a renaissance in an old publishing practice: expensive special editions. "The deluxe gambit has been used successfully by music labels and DVD publishers, which have put out higher-priced special editions, often with additional songs or deleted scenes, to wring extra revenue from dedicated fans. Within the struggling book industry, these efforts are intended to deepen fan bases for popular authors while ginning up extra profit."

"The demand is there, even for unsigned books. One of the most anticipated books this summer, July's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will also be released as a deluxe foil-stamped hardcover with different artwork. At $65, it's more than twice the cost of the normal book, but it's selling faster than any previous Harry Potter deluxe edition, according to publisher Scholastic, and advance sales have pushed it to No. 4 on Barnes & Noble's online-sales list for 2007. Since its debut this spring, Children of Húrin, the posthumous book from "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien, has sold 4,000 copies in its $75 deluxe edition, according to Nielsen BookScan."

Wall Street Journal

harry potter publishers

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