JK Rowling’s newest venture, the Harry Potter site called ‘Pottermore’, has been delayed for at least another month. The site has been open by invitation only to one million lucky beta users who were selected at random from the people who applied for an invitation. The site was expected to open in October, but it seems that it will be at least December before the site is open for registration.
The site has drawn a lot of interest, partially because people are simply curious to see what it offers. It has been described as an interactive site set in the wizarding world in which the Harry Potter movies and books are set, but it is unknown if the site is a sort of online game, or if it is more like a “Second Life” (or virtual world) with a Harry Potter theme.
The site promises to create an entirely new revenue stream for author JK Rowling, who has never before allowed the Harry Potter books to be sold in digital, ebook editions. That will change when Pottermore opens. It will be one of the very first sites where an author will offer the digital editions of her books for sale directly to the public, effectively cutting out the publishers and resellers such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Of course, these people have made millions and millions of dollars off of the Harry Potter franchise before, so there’s no need to feel sorry for them! It does seem to be a shrewd move, and it will be interesting to see how well it goes. Ms. Rowling is one of the few authors in the world who is popular enough to pull it off.
While the Pottermore site itself does not have a firm opening date, it has been announced that the ebooks will not be available until at least some time in 2012.
