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Potter mania: One lakh copies sold in a single day

SUPER-HIT: Author J.K. Rowling posing with a copy of her new book "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince."

It doesn't get bigger than this. The latest J.K.Rowling book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', has made history by selling over 100,000 copies in a single day in India. The fastest book to fly off the shelves in this country, it sold 139 copies every minute from 6-30 in the morning to 6 in the evening on the first day of release this past weekend.

With muggle publishers completely in awe of Harry Potter phenomenon, the President of Penguin India, Thomas Abraham, says: "We did know that this was going to be huge, but 100,000 copies in a single day is sensational. This is a new national record. We're delighted that all the logistics and planning have paid off and would like to thank all Harry Potter fans across the country."

While Harry Potter is certainly India's favourite wizard, Mumbai seems completely under his spell. Topping the list with 15,000 copies followed by Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi at about 9,000 to 10,000 copies, the `Bhadralok' Bengalis came in last with only 5,000 copies sold on the first day.

Cashing in on the Harry Potter craze, the day of the release was certainly a "golden'' day for bookshops across the country. According to Penguin India figures, the book sold over 20,000 copies at the Crossword, Landmark and Oxford bookstore chains. And judging by the response to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", while the book might end on a gloomy note for readers, for the publishers and the bookshops it is a new `high'.

"This is simply amazing. It's the biggest publishing event I've seen in my career and I expect the seventh book to be even bigger," says Hemu Ramaiah of Landmark Bookstores. -- Mandira Nayar

-- Mandira Nayar

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