On the Front Lines for Midnight Magic

This past weekend, several ABA staff members joined front-line booksellers at celebrations marking the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Here are reports filed by ABA COO Oren Teicher at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona; ABA Information Director Dan Cullen at Other Tiger in Westerly, Rhode Island; and Book Sense Marketing Director Mark Nichols at The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington Depot, Connecticut.

By ABA COO Oren Teicher at Changing Hands Bookstore

ABA COO Oren Teicher and Changing Hands co-owner and ABA vice president Gayle Shanks before the crowd of Potter fans hit.

It was the hottest, but coolest of nights.

A thousand or so Harry Potter fans; fire dancers in the parking lot; a belly dancer; a U.S. Congressman casually greeting his constituents; the outside temperature nearing 100 degrees; some of the cutest and weirdest costumes imaginable; two TV crews; a very enthusiastic and indefatigable bookstore staff; lightning bolt rubber bracelets; strangely colored cauldrons simmering; eyeball cupcakes, butter beer and pumpkin juice being consumed by many; and much more ... were all part of the release party for Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows at Tempe, Arizona's Changing Hands Bookstore.

By 8:00 p.m., the crowd started to gather -- there were babies, kids in strollers, and senior citizens in wheel chairs. Despite the heat, many of the costumes included wool scarves and heavy cloaks worn by kids of all ages. And, conveniently, the first name of the Congressman working the crowd was Harry. (Really!)

As the midnight hour approached, to say the least -- it got pretty crowded, but the jostling didn't seem to bother anyone in the amazingly good-natured crowd. To the pleasure of owners Gayle Shanks, Bobby Sommer, and Susie Brazil, there was a line at the cash wrap all night with customers making lots and lots of other purchases as they waited for the stroke of midnight. Not exactly your typical Friday night at the bookstore!

Changing Hands had presold close to 700 copies of Harry VII, and with a preorder came a specially created lightning bolt bracelet and a voucher with either a single or double letter. Changing Hands sold the book at full price, but it allowed customers to designate $7 of the purchase price to be donated to a local charity. Around 11:00 p.m., to heighten anticipation, the bookstore staff rolled out the cartons of books emblazoned with the "Do not open warnings" to two different sides of the 13,000 square foot store: one side for customers with single-letter vouchers; the other for double-letter vouchers. As the lines intersected, stretching through the store, for a few brief moments, it became pretty chaotic, but Changing Hands events manager, Cindy Dach, calmly kept reassuring everyone that she knew what she was doing and the books would get distributed very quickly.

A 10-minute -- and then a five-minute warning -- was shouted, and then the entire crowd joined in a countdown to midnight. As the boxes were ripped open, a roar erupted from the crowd. The first few recipients raced through the store with their books held high as everyone else applauded. Others clutched their copies as if to be sure they wouldn't get dropped. And, of course, some quickly turned to the last pages to learn the fate of their favorite characters.

Cindy [Dach] was right, remarkably by 12:13 p.m., the lines were gone; the books were distributed; and the line at the register for those who just showed up to buy their copies at midnight had shrunk to a manageable number.  By 12:30 a.m., the store staff was able to usher out the few remaining customers ... and it was all over!

The tired, but happy bookstore staff looked over their somewhat trashed store, and prepared to reopen at 9:00 a.m. for their Saturday morning Harry events.

By ABA Information Director Dan Cullen at Other Tiger

Under a dramatic, waxing crescent moon in Westerly, Rhode Island, owner Robert Utter of Other Tiger and fellow booksellers hosted a four-hour Potter Party for customers eager to buy, what Robert called, "the most loved series in history."

The evening was really remarkable -- a mixture of small town conviviality, festive costumes and activities, food, and some great jazz music from "The Hogwarts Express," a group of four University of Rhode Island music students who -- surprisingly -- had never played together as a unit. Like a wizard version of Brigadoon, it felt as if the day had arrived when, once again, Rowling's fictive world emerged fully into our own. There were Potter references throughout the crowded store -- from the sign at the front door announcing that this was "Platform 9 3/4," to one above a doorway inside leading to a small room noting "Crafts in ... the Cupboard Under the Stairs," to a note attached to the large Tiger by the front door clarifying his species with the update that "I'm the Gryffindor Lion." Customers (of all ages), costumed and waiting for the evening's activities to begin, browsed, made wizards hats, imagined their own endings to the novel, or had their faces painted (by Robert's wife).

There was even a national (sort of) news angle on Friday. The day before, 11-year-old Katharine Koretski had purchased two copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at McQuade's Marketplace in Westerly. According to local news reports, the market and Hudson News were duking it out as to responsibility for the breach. In addition, Friday's edition of the Westerly newspaper The Sun had a front-page photo of Other Tiger booksellers Ginny Ballantyne and Graham Vyse surveying the cartons of Potter on arrival at the store.

Though I had wondered about the length of the party (beginning at 8:00 p.m.), Robert kept everyone busy -- and happy. First, there was a costume contest in which contestants ranging from age six or so to high schoolers formed a parade outside the store; then, a raffle for the Potter countdown display from Scholastic; and, finally, an All-Pro outdoor trivia contest, not at all for the uninitiated.

By the time, it came down to the final two contestants, the suspense was actually pretty intense as Graham Vyse (looking very dramatic in a Harry-esque cape and the requisite mended eyeglass frames) quizzed one player, then the other, until the winner was decided (the champion won an "upgrade" to the deluxe Potter edition). Throughout the event, the store served pizza and soft drinks, and about a half-hour before the countdown to publication, cut the celebratory cake -- with an icing depicting the cover the new book.

At 11:59 p.m. the loud countdown began. The boxes were opened, and those who had preordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lined up in two queues (A through L, and M through Z) to get their copies of the hardcover and the audio book. By 12:20 p.m., 180 of the 300 presold copies had been distributed. It was remarkable to watch customers head out of the store -- a friendly good-bye to Robert or one of the booksellers, but no delay. Straight home to start reading. Overheard from one teenage girl on the way out of the store, "I've been waiting for this forever."

Then, clean up and preparations for the store's opening on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. to distribute the remaining 120 copies of Potter.

It was a great evening. One of the most memorable aspects was seeing just how woven into the community Other Tiger and its staff are. Even a visitor could quickly see what a nexus it was for friendship, community, and discussion. That was the most impressive magic of the night....

By Book Sense Marketing Director Mark Nichols at The Hickory Stick Bookshop

While perhaps not as elaborate as some events, the celebration of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington Depot, Connecticut, scored very high marks from a crowd of about 150, whose level of anticipation and speculation peaked in the minutes before 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. Drawing on community resources for costumes and extra Muggle helpers, store owner Fran Keilty and her staff opened the doors at 10:30 p.m. to a steady stream of Potter fans of all ages.

Throughout the store there were a series of stations where customers could have their fortunes told and their faces painted, be fitted for a pair of Harry's trademark glasses, and guess the number of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in an enormous jar while sipping a cup of delicious punch (the secret ingredient: gummy worms!). Various raffles were also held throughout the evening with winners receiving store gift certificates and Hogwart's memorabilia.

Numbers were given out at the door to determine the order of book distribution once the magical hour arrived. After an exuberant countdown and a storewide cheer as the cartons of books were brought out, the crowd quickly queued up and within a matter of minutes more than 100 books and CD sets had been claimed. Even between yawns, anxious fans pledged to start reading right away. By 12:20 a.m. the last of the celebrants were on their way home, and the store pulled back together for what promised to be a very busy weekend.

Read more about independent booksellers' Potter festivities in this week's issue.