Harry Pottermania Sweeps WHSmith

SWINDON, England, January 21 /PRNewswire/ --     As the excitement around the 
launch of the sixth Harry Potter book
builds, WHSmith has today announced it will offer customers who pre-order
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a guaranteed low price of only GBP9.99
(RRP GBP16.99) in its high street stores - currently the cheapest price on
the High Street - saving customers GBP7 off the recommended retail price.
Customers will be guaranteed this saving if they pre-order before 2 April
2005.



    Tipped to be the biggest selling book of 2005, customers have already
been reserving their copy at WHSmith and initial pre-order sales suggest that
the sixth book will outsell the previous book. In 2003 the fifth book in the
series, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, flew off the shelves at
WHSmith stores at a rate of eight per second.



    Over 400 WHSmith high street stores will be celebrating the launch of
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by opening at midnight on Friday 15
July, enabling customers to join in the celebrations and collect their copy
hot off the press when it is released on Saturday 16 July.



    Commenting on the pre-order launch, Rachel Russell, Books Business Unit
Director said: "Harry Potter is a huge phenomenon and the announcement that
the penultimate book will be released this year has already sparked a frenzy
amongst Potter fans. Having sold more of the previous Harry Potter books than
any other retailer, we want to ensure our customers get fantastic value for
money and an opportunity to be the first to buy their copy."



Notes to editors:

    - Customers who pre-order Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in a
WHSmith high street store will be guaranteed a price of GBP9.99 if their
order is placed before 2 April 2005



    - Customers will be required to pay a GBP1 deposit when placing a
pre-order



- WHSmith has 545 high street stores

    - Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince goes on sale at 00.01am BST on
Saturday 16 July 2005



    - Over 400 WHSmith high street stores will be opening at midnight on 16
July 2005 to celebrate the launch



    - Customers who have pre-ordered Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
before 21 January will also receive this guaranteed price



- Pre-ordered copies will be held for two weeks after the release date



Sarah Hodson, WHSmith Press Office, [phone]