Potter Spell Smashes Records in First-Day Sales

8.3M copies fly off shelves in 24 hours
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2007 3:33 AM CDT
Potter Spell Smashes Records in First-Day Sales
Nathan Blain, left, and Jen Eckles, both of Tempe, Ariz., dressed as their favorite characters, eagerly wait in line for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," J.K. Rowling's seventh and final Harry Potter book at the Changing Hands Bookstore Friday, July 20, 2007 in Tempe, Ariz., ahead of the release...   (Associated Press)

The internet leaks don't seem to have weakened any of the boy wizard's magic:  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" sold a record-breaking 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale Saturday. The 7th and final installment in the series bested the 6th, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which sold 6.9 million copies in 24 hours two years ago.

The "hysteria that came over the entire country this weekend was a bit like the Beatles' first visit to the US," said an executive at Scholastic, the book's publisher in the US.  Twelve million copies of "Deathly Hallows" were printed, bringing the number of Potter books published in the US to a whopping 133.5 million. (More wizard stories.)

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