Early release of HP7, big deal!

But if people are this excited about something, doesn’t that make it news whether the PR departments are trying or not?

If Scholastic never released a single bit of news related to Harry Potter there would still be untold numbers of news stories about it because it is news. You might think it’s “fluff” and you might already be painting a lightning bolt scar on your head in anticipation of tomorrow night, but that doesn’t make the publication of one of the biggest books ever not news.

And for the record, the last bit of official “PR” Scholastic did for HP7 was to announce a new poll on the Harry Potter website two weeks ago (About Scholastic). Don’t remember that one making the nightly news.

I dunno. The first book came out, when, 1998? There are a lot of kids in college right now who read the first book as youngsters when it first came out. This has been a big part of their summer reading over the years. They’ve been waiting for this a long time. It might not be important to you, but it is to a lot of kids.

And why not hype a phenomenom where the thing that kids eagerly anticipate the most during summer vacation is reading a 700 or 800 page doorstop?

Yeah, I ordered it, but I won’t have a chance to read it before going on vacation in Canada, so I’m leaving it for others to read until I return. I never turn off CBC radio when I’m there; I just hope that they are respectful of listeners by not spoiling the ending.

Please tell me you used your copy of the book to beat them to death.

Tell me this even if you really didn’t.

As for me, I was spoiled, but didn’t believe the spoiler (how could it be true?) so it wasn’t so bad. It still doesn’t mean I want anyone telling me major plot points before I get to crack the spine on my own copy, though.

Lib, I started the first one and found it enjoyable, in a “Douglas Adams for a younger crowd” way. Didn’t finish it because I don’t read much fiction, but the movies are rip-roarin’ fun. You are denying yourself pleasure for no good reason by avoiding Harry.

I’m not avoiding Harry Potter. I’m just occupied with other things that I value more. :slight_smile:

My feelings exactly. I have no animosity towards the series, or towards the people who like it. Nor have i deliberately gone out of my way to avoid it, or to mock those who read the books and see the movies. It’s just that i don’t get to the movies as often as i’d like, so i generally save it for films that i really want to see.

Of course, if Lib does decide he wants to start the series, he has now had a major plot development spoiled by someone complaining about assholes who spoil endings. But i guess if you’ve already read it, then that’s OK.

So how do you know when it’s okay to start talking about spoilers? For a TV show, all’s fair after it airs and whoever missed it pretty much has to try to avoid hearing about it on their own.

For movies, it’s a bit harder, but once you’ve seen it, that’s it. Books, though, everyone reads at a different speed. When is it okay to start talking in a public place about [character x] who died?

ETA: mhendo’s point, for one. I mean, I’m assuming you’re joking about Liberal’s having it spoiled, but at this point in time, but there’s always going to be someone who hasn’t read certain books. Is it ever okay to talk about a major spoiler without prefacing what you’re saying?

**Somebody died? You bastard, you just spoiled about 75% of all literature, and 100% of all biographies (at least eventually!)

I have no definitive answer, except to note that, here on the SDMB, we either tend to warn people in advance about spoilers, or use the spoiler tags.

Okay, I too have no animosity toward the series, or the people who like it. I haven’t deliberately avoided it, it’s just not my cuppa. I think it’s great that it has encouraged a lot of kids to read. I don’t mock those who read the books and see the movies. I do mock the adults who wait in line for 16 hours to buy/see it and dress up in costumes to do so. Sorry.

And I’d be a platinum member of the club if I hadn’t opened that newly stickied thread in CS yesterday just to see what people had their panties all in a wad about. Curses.

Makes sense. But at some point, it doesn’t make too much sense to. That is, most of us know Hamlet (and co) died and that Odysseus made it home and that Rhett jettisoned Scarlett, who Luke Skywalker’s father is, that Bambi’s mom and Simba’s dad bought it. At some point, the spoiler tags just aren’t necessary. At some point, Harry Potter spoilers are going to be overkill.

I didn’t start reading the Harry Potter books until after the second one came out in the trade paperback edition. I have the first four in trade paperback, but then decided that I didn’t want to wait for the fifth and sixth and bought them in hardcover shortly after they came out. I pre-ordered the last one primarily because Border’s was offering a 40% discount if you pre-ordered, and since there’s a Border’s a few blocks from where I live now I figured that’s where I’d be buying it anyway. However, I had no intention of standing in line to pick it up the instant it was released…I figured I’d go in Monday or Tuesday.

So Tuesday I get an e-mail from Border’s confirming that I can pick it up after midnight Friday, and reminding me (as if I needed to be told) the they were having a Grand Hallows Ball Friday evening with all the hype & giveaways. They also told me that my reserved copy would only be held until the store closed on Saturday.

WTF?!?! What part of reserved do you people not understand? There was nothing said about having a limited amount of time to pick up the book when I ordered it. I have ordered books from Borders before, and they always held them until it was convenient for me to come in and collect it. What if I had other plans for this weekend? Does this mean that if I don’t go in Saturday I’m not going to get the book at the price I was promised?

Platinum here. Wish I could be eligible for the Tritium, but there is absolutely no fucking way to avoid HP mania, unless you don’t go on the internet at all, don’t watch TV at all, don’t listen to the radio at all, and don’t go shopping at all.

Sigh.
and spoiler alerts: Rosebud was his sled, Bruce Willis was dead, the girlfriend was really a man and the North won.

That and people will try and sell them at MASSIVE markups on ebay and such. One book in the HP series had a huge laydown date violation, and had PDF’s of the full text circulating 12 hours later and 12 days prior to the release date.

With the efficency of todays OCR technology and file sharing networks, laydown date violation can hurt a publisher/author just like music sharing does.

One of the things we used to do (I worked for Scholastic) was that we had a release date ahead of the mass market on many things. Mass outcry from retailers crushed that in short order. We still had exclusive paperbacks and such but everyone could at least buy the book.

I thought about this for a while and I think I have come up with a good suggestion. How about until a week after the paperbacks come out? If I’m not wrong, the paperbacks usually come out within six months of the hardcover (or less). It is probably reasonable to assume that anyone who was anxious about being unspoiled would have read it by then.

Same with movies - until it comes out on DVD. Does that sound reasonable, or am I reaching?

And most, if not all (especially if you count the main character’s pet as “somebody”), of modern children’s lit, especially the award-winning stuff. Why adults in the book biz would think kids like all the “snuff porn” they sell is beyond me. Publishers and teachers moan about how Johnny can’t and won’t read but they never think it might have something to do with the shit loaded with “life lessons” and the deaths of major characters. When, as a child, I read fiction it was for entertainment, not to learn or get depressed.

I’m guessing American Idol.

If you’re a sliver member (never read any of the books but saw all the movies) and some bookworms are discussing the Snape killed Dumbledor plot point are you allowed to kick them both in the balls casue they ruined it for you (the movie doesn’t come out till 2008 after all)?

I would say no. You cannot expect book readers to avoid discussing something for several years in public. A few weeks, maybe, but even that is pushing it IMHO.

Jim

I’m a bonafide Tritium member, baby!

I was thinking… when did HP release OS’s?