Harry Potter: Marketing

Harry Potter. Harry Potter. Harry Potter. With his fifth movie and seventh novel pending release, no one can escape his bespeckled, lightning-scarred grasp.

I have to admit that, although I love the Harry Potter movies, I've never actually read any of the books. When I started writing fantasy, I stopped reading fantasy; except for his movie adaptations, I had read all of Terry Brooks' novels and most of R.A. Salvatore's, and I was ready to expand my reading into other genres. Mr. Potter, however, fascinates me.

Harry's not just a book; he's an empire.

J.K. Rowling, who was on welfare when she first put pen to the series, has since become, in terms of U.S. currency, the first ever billionaire author. For most authors, writing isn't a terribly lucrative endeavor; especially in the fiction genre, the competition is intense and the market is saturated. Yet, I think all of us can learn something from the Harry Potter phenomenon: Mrs. Rowling's wild success has shown that, in order to be not only a good writer but a successful writer, you also have to be a good marketer.

How have Mrs. Rowling and her publishers marketed the Harry Potter novels?

By no means am I a marketing expert, but I'd like to do a little research and find out.