Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are expected to line up at their local bookstore later this month to purchase a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in British author J.K. Rowling's series.

Retailers were required to sign a strict legal agreement with the publisher that they will not unseal shipping cartons of books until exactly one minute past midnight local time on July 21.

"I've been getting letters from customers across the country for months saying how they can't wait for this book to come out," says Jamie Broadhurst, vice-president of marketing for the Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books. "There has never been another series of books like this in history. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event."

An estimated 325 million copies of other books in the Harry Potter series have been sold so far around the world, with 10 million of those copies sold in Canada. The books have also been translated into 63 different languages, including Latin, Welsh, Ancient Greek, Japanese and Irish.

Photo courtesy of Vancouver Kidsbooks
Vancouver's Kidsbooks had a big turnout for the 2005 launch of the sixth Harry Potter book, but expectations are that this month's launch could dwarf those totals.

The books have even inspired a Harry Potter theme park near Orlando, Fla., scheduled to open in 2009. A fifth movie about the bespectacled boy wizard, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is in theatres around the world.

Most publishing industry executives consider a book to be a bestseller in Canada once it sells 5,000 copies.

Raincoast has previously announced that 650,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series, were sold in Canada during its opening weekend alone on July 16, 2005.

This latest book is expected to sell even more, although Broadhurst declined to give any advance sales figures or even say how big of an initial print run had been ordered. "I can definitely tell you this is already a bestseller here in Canada," he said.

There is speculation this may not be the last of Harry Potter's adventures. In a story published last May, the Montreal Gazette reported that, using extensive background notes from the past decade, Rowling may write an "encyclopedia of magic" based on the world of wizardry. It would flesh out characters that only rated a passing mention in her earlier books.

"I always knew that Harry's story would end with the seventh book, but saying goodbye has been just as hard as I always knew it would be," Rowling wrote on her website. "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric."

Many retailers were planning to hold late-night parties around the one-minute-past-midnight book launch, including costumes, contests and games.

One of the biggest parties was being organized by Vancouver retailer Kidsbooks, which was expecting 6,000 customers to come to its party at VanDusen Botanical Gardens.

"Every year, our parties seem to get bigger and bigger. It's exciting to see kids and teens so excited about reading a book," says Kidsbooks co-owner Kelly McKinnon.

McKinnon says more than 1,500 fans were at Kidsbooks' North Vancouver location for the last Harry Potter party in 2005, while another 3,000 people were at a street party outside the Westside store.

Photo courtesy of Raincoast Books
The book cover of the final Harry Potter instalment.

The Westside street party included stilt walkers, musicians, motorcyclists, midnight fireworks and four sealed trucks containing the books.

Then-mayor Larry Campbell officiated the event dressed as Professor Dumbledore, the character from the book.

"The only word to describe it is magical. And this year is going to be even bigger and better. We have some kids that stay up all night reading and come in before noon the next day to tell us the ending," McKinnon says. "It goes to show you they don't mind reading a book that is 600 pages or so. That's a great sign."

After the last book launch, Raincoast Books announced Kidsbooks had won their "Best Harry Potter Launch Party in Canada" contest and earned $3,000 toward a staff party to celebrate their efforts.

Laughing Oyster Bookshop in Courtney, B.C., came in second, Toronto's Flying Dragon bookstore was third and Granny Bates Children's Books in St. John's, Nfld., got an honourable mention.

Excitement is also starting to build in other parts of the country. At Monkeyshines Children's Books in Calgary, employee Sharon Hanna says staff are opening up the doors just before midnight to sell books to eager Harry Potter fans. "There's going to be a costume party and games and everything," she said.

Indigo Books Music & More stores, including locations operating under the Chapters banner, will be staying open well past midnight and holding special parties for the Harry Potter release, according to spokeswoman Sorya Ingrid Gaulin. She added that selected Coles stores are also staying open late.

Adult readers have a party of their own at Indigo's Festival Hall location in the Toronto entertainment district, Gaulin said.

A news release regarding Indigo's annual earnings for the last fiscal year mentioned Harry Potter three times in comparing last year's revenue with 2005, a "Harry Potter" year.

"We are not treating this as a mourning since it will be the last book in the series. There are many other great authors out there. What's incredible is how this has gotten kids interested in reading," she said. "It seems to have struck a chord with people of all ages."

Rowling has developed a reputation for keeping details of Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore and Voldemort's adventures confidential until the books are released to the public. Although she dropped hints last year that two characters are going to get killed this time, which two characters remains a closely guarded secret.

The statements could also be an elaborate ruse to throw fans off guessing what's in the final chapter.

"I know just as much about the ending as all the other fans out there," Broadhurst says. "I don't get to read the book in advance, no. I'll be spending the weekend reading just like everyone else."

Despite all the sales, deep discounting has made profits disappear like magic for most booksellers.

"There are practically no margins to this book. Nobody's making money off the Harry Potter books themselves," says Eleanor LeFave, president of the Canadian Booksellers Association and owner of Mable's Fables bookstore in Toronto.

"You can say it brings kids and their parents into the store, but once they are here there is only one book on their minds. They want to get that book and get home to read it as soon as possible," she says. "They're in and out very quickly."

LeFave remains a fan of the Harry Potter books and admirer of Rowling as author.

"You really have to read the books to understand why they are so popular. It's the quality of the writing, character development, pacing, references to mythology," she says.

Rowling herself is an enigma to many.

She developed a reputation for never doing interviews or releasing statements through the media, instead choosing to post messages for fans on her website.

The multi-millionaire author did visit Vancouver and Toronto in the fall of 2000, however, when Harry Potter was just starting to gather momentum.

More than 20,000 people filled Toronto's Rogers Centre for a public reading from Rowling and two Canadian authors, earning it a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest reading.

LeFave sat across the table from Rowling at a luncheon for independent bookstore owners.

"She came across as being very kind and sincere. I think she deserves everything she's got right now, especially considering what this has done to promote children's reading," LeFave says.

Rowling's personal net worth is now estimated to be $1.2 billion, which would make her richer than the Queen.

(David Hatton can be reached at hatton@businessedge.ca)