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APRIL 10, 2006 at 11:12 PM
Posted by CHEESER
Source: Guardian Unlimited via Yahoo! News
The success of Harry Potter has made British publisher Bloomsbury the most cash-rich in its industry, writes The Guardian's Matt Seaton in an in-depth company analysis
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With more than £50 million in its Gringott's vault, Bloomsbury is spending heavily to nab high-profile books from under the noses of competitors, in an effort to ensure that Potter's demise isn't also the end of their golden years:
The fact that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the latest and sixth in the series, is also the penultimate cannot have escaped the attention of Bloomsbury's shareholders. Newton talks about sustaining the franchise with "launches" of Harry Potter products (audiobooks, cloth-bound boxed sets, and so on) until 2011, but the truth is that after the final volume of JK Rowling's series appears, probably in 2007 and then in paperback in 2008, the company has just three more years of mega-bucks revenues.
Company executives are confident they can continue to deliver big returns to stockholders, post-Potter. Founding editor Liz Calder said "the heart and soul" of the publisher will continue to be driven by mass-interest novels, both fiction and non-fiction, but its new strategy will be: "big names, big money."
"We have made a number of big purchases in the last six months," said Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury's chairman. "We're in a position to do so."
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226-250 251-269
The Fifth Marauder
Points: 2771
Curious Werewolf says:
They can't stop selling the books after 2011! Surely another publisher will sell them, I mean, this is Harry Potter we are talking about, they can't stop selling them forever. And so soon! That's only five years away, four years after book 7 and three after it is in paperback!
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 5:56 AM EST
Wood's Quidditch Queen
Points: 3036
Princess Pigwidgeon says:
Come to think of the publishers that have turned down JKR! Argh, must be about to kill them self!
Hopefully Bloomsbury won't, hopefully they will keep selling books, also after 2011;)
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 12:35 PM EST
Witch
Points: 925
loony_futuregirl2 says:
They made a good choice to publish HP after all of the other publishers turned JK down and I should imagine that they'll find the next big thing in books too!
Hopefully they will realise that there are other great authors out there as good as JK!
I think it's a good decision to have no HP after 2011 - I mean, it just wouldn't be right if they continued to milk it! It would not work and might even loose fans and certainly loose them money!
Fun while it lasts!
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 2:00 PM EST
Chief Auror
Points: 15502
auror_potter says:
They are smart, they know that there HP money is going to end soon so now they have to find some other books.
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 2:33 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 10
potterlover174 says:
I think it is a good idea.
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 4:15 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1357
phoenixfire_HG says:
Sorry, but i just don't see the company making it big after post-potter. There really aren't a lot of books that people will find so appealing. I hope that the company will still survive (after all, they let JKR publish her books in the first place), but I seriously don't think they will be having golden years for much longer
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 8:22 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 503
Zauber says:
That is so cool how they they make so much money for publishing those books.
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 8:43 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2860
mad_eye muggle says:
It will be indeed very sad that the greatest book ever publish is going to end.But think of the positive side,at least we get to know all the answers that we are longing to know for sooooo long and not to mention make our heads ached to think of possibilities on what will happen on the next book.That always makes me excited on thinking about what will JK write on the next HP book.But "Harry Potter" will always remain in our minds and especially our hearts.For once in my life I read a book that influence me alot in my life and inspire me to read.That I'am very proud to say.HP RULES 4evr!
Posted Apr 15, 2006 at 10:26 PM EST
Parselmouth
Points: 29083
Thestral Eyes says:
Well stands to reason, nothing lasts forever. Theyve made soooo much money from this though that i cant see the problem, not as if theyre bankrupt. They have the films to thank for their sucsess, if the films hadnt been done then there wouldnt be nearly as many books sold, especialy in other countries.
WOunder who theyre trying to get...id get terry pratchett and Philip Pullman publishing rights if they could, theyl be big if films are made too.
Posted Apr 16, 2006 at 8:57 AM EST
Auror
Points: 2465
undisputed760 says:
There will be a market for HP books for quite some time after book 7 comes out but i think they will slowly start to go into a dive sometime in the future.
Posted Apr 16, 2006 at 10:33 AM EST
Student
Points: 211
Regulus_Alphard says:
I'm SO convinced that they won't go under after Harry Potter. Since they've found a serie of books which is this awesome, I'm sure they'll find other series after Harry Potter. Mabe not that perfect, but way good enough..;)
Posted Apr 16, 2006 at 11:33 AM EST
Student
Points: 220
Magical and Mysterious Me says:
I will be sad in 2011, because the books will be at their end. I can't wait till the 7th book.
~Magical and Mysterious Me~
Posted Apr 16, 2006 at 1:29 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1111
Phoenix_Patronus says:
I can't wait until the last book comes out, but I will also be sad because it will be the last of the series. It will be hard to say goodbye to the characters we have grown so close to...
Posted Apr 16, 2006 at 1:41 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1122
PhoenixPatronus2 says:
I think they'll have a hard time once Harry Potter goes out of its main printing. I was reading about some of the books they were buying in an attempt to not rely on HP so much, and none of them sounded like very good business moves to me. HP is one of those once in a life time things, and I doubt they'll be lucky enough to find something as lucrative, but at least with their current financial windfall they'll have more options.
Posted Apr 16, 2006 at 10:16 PM EST
Northern Belle
Points: 3968
American Angel says:
Yeah, if I owned the company, I would be worried about not keeping book sales up after all the success from the Harry Potter books. I don't even want to think about the end of the Harry Potter series, though!
Posted Apr 17, 2006 at 4:27 AM EST
Squib
Points: 177
Werewolf Cal says:
I seriously doubt that Harry Potter is going to destory Bloomsbury. I think after Harry Potter 7 bloomsbury wont have to publish any more books, they will be so rich. Eventually the books will end and it will be upseting, but Bloomsbury will carry one. Cal
Posted Apr 17, 2006 at 5:49 AM EST
Head Girl
Points: 485
The_Spectra says:
How sad! To think it could all be over so soon!!! It's heartbreaking! I can't believe it!
Well now they're in the public eye thanks to Harry and JK, so I think we can expect Bloomsbury to keep going strong.
Prongsella
Posted Apr 17, 2006 at 7:21 AM EST
Witch
Points: 804
PadfootsGirl says:
They have to start looking for another money spinner now, otherwise they will show massive losses, however anticipated, after 2011 - the shareholders are not going to like that!!
Posted Apr 17, 2006 at 1:04 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1453
smart hermione says:
Money money money! They're gonna loose some of their poularity after the final book is out, unless someone follows in jk's footsteps ans makes a huge success!!
Posted Apr 19, 2006 at 8:25 AM EST
Muggle Representative
Points: 9117
The Lime says:
Yay for Potter, and yay for Bloomsbury! I will be very sad once the books are finished though. Then it will all be over. Gah....
Posted Apr 20, 2006 at 7:19 AM EST
Squib
Points: 167
Miss Eeylop says:
I like this publisher and I have even bought other books from them...HOWEVER...
They won't sell Potter to anyone in US because of dumb rights laws and another publisher owns those rights over here...different editions and everything.
Can you guys in the UK buy the books from US and have them sent there ...or is it the same at both ends??
Posted Apr 20, 2006 at 5:32 PM EST
Student
Points: 271
Germz says:
It is a shame that there will be no more HP books, but MAYBE....*just maybe*..... There will be another book to enjoy as much as HP, but i really do doubt it :(
Posted Apr 20, 2006 at 8:57 PM EST
Lady of Hufflepuff
(Moderator)
Points: 10339
Lady Lee says:
I don't think that it's right to do something like that but as Darwin has pointed out, only the strongest survive. I'm sure they're trying to do everything they can to ensure that the big money keeps coming out after the series ends. But I doubt that the books will stop being sold, it's more likely that they won't be bought in the great numbers that they have been in the past. But since we've got a large numbers of people coming to an age of enjoying reading books, I doubt that they'll have to worry about losing money!
Posted Apr 21, 2006 at 7:21 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1741
HarryAssistant says:
They should sell HP stuff forever not stop at 2011. Our descendants will probally want the books. Plus llok at Narnia and Lord of the Rings, they've been out for decades and they are still selling the books.
Posted Apr 22, 2006 at 10:05 AM EST
Professor
Points: 1069
NYmphTonks says:
It's so strange to think that there could be an end to the selling of HP books! Strange and sad that soon there will be an end to the series also! Ah, I still can't wait for Book 7 to be released though! So many things will be answered with Harry and all!
Posted Apr 22, 2006 at 11:00 AM EST
Head Girl
Points: 480
sneha_luvs_ron says:
Bloomsbury could be in trouble without Jo!!
LOVE U RON
Posted Apr 24, 2006 at 5:37 AM EST
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