Harry Potter Brings Magic to Book Publishing

The New York Times reports that a Book Industry Study Group report, being released today, found that 2005 book sales were up by 5.9% at $34.6 billion (USD). The “strongest growth niches” were juvenile books, religious books and elementary and high school textbooks.

“[T]he children’s book segment was driven largely by the publication last year of the sixth volume in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which, according to its publisher, Scholastic, sold 11 million copies in the United States during its first nine weeks in bookstores alone.”