The latest Harry Potter book sold something like 7 million copies on its first day, as readers were eager to find out which “major character” dies or something like that. I haven’t read the books, so I’m not sure what that’s all about, but here’s an interesting story: two months ago, newspaper reports gave away the spoiler, thanks to betting. Don’t read the rest of the story unless you want to read the spoiler.
From This is London:
A betting website has been inundated with bets on the death of Hogwarts’ head teacher Dumbledore – all from the town where the book is being printed. The bets were refused by one chain of bookmakers which claimed it was “obvious” the manuscript had been read.
Claims that Dumbledore would die were sparked when author JK Rowling hinted about a death in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. Now a mysterious series of events in Suffolk suggests the secret may be out.
A cluster of �50 bets have been placed on Dumbledore being the victim – and it would not take the powers of the boy wizard to deduce what has happened. Most of the bets have been placed in the town of Bungay – which just happens to be where the new Harry Potter adventure is being printed.
Ed Pownall, of the internet betting site Blue Square told The Sun: “We have taken nearly �6,000 worth of bets on Dumbledore in the past seven days. All have been played in Bungay or nearby Beccles. A lot of punters have opened new accounts and placed a maximum bet of ?50 each on what is an obscure market. That made us sit up and take note.”
As a result Blue Square slashed the odds for Dumbledore – played by Sir Michael Gambon after the death of Richard Harris – from 2/1 a week ago to 4/6 before they suspended betting last night. And Warren Lush of Ladbrokes said: “We weren’t foolish enough to take the bets. There are obviously people out there who have read the manuscripts.”
Yet again, gambling reveals the future! Maybe–I haven’t read the book so this might all be a swerve.
I read that the book sold about 200,000 pre-orders on Amazon alone. You know, my latest book is available on pre-order now, and it’s even cheaper than the Harry Potter book. Judging from that sales rank, it’s not exactly flying off the shelves, either. I think the first sentence of the “editorial review” is a run-on, which probably doesn’t help.
In other news, I did an interview for VegasTripping.com today. It looks like a really cool website–they’ve got some great news bites and reviews of some infamous stuff, like the deep-fried oreos at Mermaid’s. I’ll post here when the interview goes up–until then, the site is highly recommended.