The long wait is over. Today marks the official release of Harry Potter ebooks and audiobooks!
The surprise announcement came early this morning and now all seven ebooks and audiobooks in the fantastically popular Harry Potter series are available for purchase from the Pottermore website.
Pottermore is the exclusive distributor of Harry Potter ebooks. However, after making a purchase you can select to send the ebook to your ereader accounts for Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Google. For all other platforms you simply download the EPUB file directly for sideloading.
Harry Potter ebooks don’t use traditional DRM that requires you to use specific software to open them. Instead your account ID essentially gets tied to each ebook you purchase; it is show on the copyright page.
In order to buy the ebooks you have to setup a free account at Pottermore. Right now the ebooks are available in US and UK versions. French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions are coming soon.
Harry ebooks are compatible with all ebook readers, as well as computers, smartphones, and tablets with any EPUB-supporting app, such as Aldiko.
The ebooks, unfortunately, are not cheap. The entire box set will set you back $57.54, and that’s 10% less than purchasing each title individually. Meanwhile Amazon sells the entire paperback box set for $50.85.
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Sony have already started advertising the Harry Potter ebooks on their ebookstores, and each directs to the Pottermore website for download. It’s a unique compromise all have engaged in, especially considering the Pottermore website is run by Sony.
Change the language to real English (GB) and get a price change to a more expensive $ 61.34 … Surprise surprise, I would have guessed the US-Version would be more expensive, due to translation (see also the title-change of the first book).
Ingo: Unfortunately, or something, you can’t purchase the GB versions in the US anyway.
I was hoping that the e-books were gonna be cheaper than the paperback books.. 🙁
For public libraries Overdrive has moved up the release date from April 30 to March 29, 2012. It will be interesting to see if Overdrive distributes the e-books directly or if you get sent to the Pottermore website for copies. From the security scheme described above they may be handled like “open” titles and thus would not have an expiration mechanism in them, yet would be identified by the individual library subscriber.
Public libraries/Overdrive update. I was expecting an email from Overdrive indicating one of my HP titles was available for checkout and noticed the release date on my waiting list has been bumped to March 30, 2012. Clicking on the title shows March 29, 2012 as the release date by each format (epub and amzn).
Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix e-book at the end of the book contains the cover, table of contents and first chapter of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This is not present in the printed edition. I noticed this in a copy I checked out from my public library via Overdrive. Does anyone see the same thing in the purchased edition of this e-book?