'Cursed Child' pre-orders indicate 'biggest book launch in 10 years'

The release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playscript later this week is set to be the biggest book launch since the release of the seventh Harry Potter title nearly a decade ago, according to Waterstones.

The chain's pre-orders of the “eighth Harry Potter story” have already surpassed 100,000 ahead of the script’s release at 00.01 GMT on 31st July, buying director Kate Skipper told The Bookseller.

The play is set 19 years after J K Rowling's seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Bloomsbury, published in 2007), when the main characters Harry, Ron and Hermione are adults. It will officially launch to the public on Saturday night (30th July) after a run of previews, with many bookshops holding midnight openings to mark the occasion.

Waterstones has been offering customers 50% off the £20 hardback, matching Amazon.co.uk’s offer. Sandra Taylor, head of events and PR said: "One hundred and 40 of our shops will be hosting midnight parties on Saturday evening, with our largest events in Edinburgh, Manchester Deansgate and London Piccadilly already sold out. Piccadilly will host Europe’s largest party across four floors of the shop and ticket holders can expect a night full of magic, fancy dress, themed refreshments, and all books collected on the night will have a special stamp to mark this unique occasion.  We expect this to be our biggest launch party yet.” 

Skipper said: “It's going to be huge - certainly for us we're expecting this to be the biggest launch since Harry Potter seven.  We are all very excited and can't wait until next Sunday. We've passed the six-figure milestone on pre-orders which I'm delighted about.”  She added: “Real event publishing like this is a real treat and it doesn't come bigger or better than Harry Potter.”  

The last Harry Potter novel – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - had by far the biggest one-day sales total in the history of the British book trade. The Deathly Hallows children’s edition sold 1,842,063 units (generating just over £15m) on the week ending 21st July 2007 -a 24-hour total seeing as the book was released on that day. The adult version of the Deathly Hallows also sold 790,622 units that day for a combined take of 2,632,685 copies (£22.3m).

Little, Brown, which is publishing the playscript of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Parts I and II, written by Jack Thorne, said over 160 UK bookshops were holding midnight events to mark its release, supported by a full range of tailored POS, including dumpbins, posters, mobiles, standees, bunting and bookmarks.

Blackwell’s, which is selling the title at £5 off for £15, is hosting events in its Oxford flagship and stores in Edinburgh, Manchester and Heffers in Cambridge, with the latter selling 115 tickets for its evening of fancy dress contests and wand-decorating. Blackwell’s in Oxford is holding quizzes, Quidditch, treasure hunts and “more magic beyond”.

Meanwhile, Foyles, which is also selling the playscript for £15, will invite guests to consume complimentary Harry Potter-themed food and drink at its Charing Cross Road London flagship.

Indies too are getting involved in the action. Gary McLaren, manager at the Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town, London, said:  “It's going to be a big book and the launch is going to be amazing. We’ve taken loads of reservations for the event, it’s really exciting. We're opening half an hour before midnight and encouraging people to come in fancy dress.” He said the shop was not offering a discount on the book but running a loyalty card scheme, offering customers an extra 100 points when people buy Cursed Child, which equates to £5 off the next purchase.

Meanwhile Victoria Holtby, bookseller at Hart's Books in Essex, said: "We'll be opening at midnight and we'll have an competition for the best dressed character. We'll probably put out a few nibbles and things but nothing spectacular. The indicators are that it's going to be a big book, and we hope it will be!"

Katharine Douglas, bookseller at the Ullapool Bookshop in in Scottish highlands, said: "We'll be opening at midnight. I'm not sure what we're going to do for it yet, but it will definitely be fun. There has been a lot of interest but we're a small tourist village so we don't know how big it will be. We'll put window displays up.”

Little, Brown is also planning to stoke interest hot title by holding a “takeover” of the outdoor advertising at Waterloo station screen, along with high footfall advertising in shopping centres advertising across the UK on the launch weekend, the publisher said.

Some early previews have seen critics respond enthusiastically to the play, with one saying it produces “truly magical moments”.   

According to Nielsen BookScan, the next biggest-selling Harry Potter title after the children’s and adult’s editions was Rowling’s follow up to the Deathly Hallows, the Potter universe short story collection The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Bloomsbury) which shifted 367,265 copies in the week it was published in December 2008. The biggest non-Rowling single week sale was for E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey (Arrow), which sold 664,478 copies through the tills in the week ending 7th July 2012.