MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
June 15-30, 2005 Edition
Tight Security
Surrounds Release
Of Potter Book
06/14/05Top-level security, of the sort used to protect a national treasure, will be deployed next month as the first shipment of the soon-to-be released book, HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, arrives in Malaysia from printers in Singapore and makes its way to the United States. The report appeared in the New Straits Times in Malaysia.
On July 11, Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc. is expected to receive 100,000 copies of British author J.K. Rowlings sixth novel about the young wizard, into a Malaysian warehouse rented especially for the shipment.
Following reports that a copy of the book had been stolen in Britain in June, distributor Pansing Marketing Sdn Bhd has hired two escort cars to guard the cargo from the port of entry to a high-security warehouse somewhere in the Klang Valley in Malaysia. The title will be released nationwide in the U.S. on July 16. Special arrangements have been made with U.S. Customs to ensure the shipment is not opened for inspection.
After Rowlings third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the distributor embargoed future books, insisting that booksellers not display the books until release date. Violators can be charged millions of dollars and be blacklisted from all future shipments. About 200 American bookstores will receive copies two days before the release date. Sales are expected to reach 20,000 copies on the first day.
