Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Already at #1

Advanced sales of the final Harry Potter book have again placed the boy wizard at number one. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released at midnight on July, 21. Online retailers like Amazon.com have the regular edition at number one($19) and the deluxe edition at number two($38). Pricing competition is so great that a whopping 21% of independent booksellers most likely not carry the book. They will be unable to match bargain basement prices found at retailers like Walmart and Amazon.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finishes off the hugely popular series and ends the trials of the heroic young wizard. JK Rowling's website announced the book's title in late December. Since that time speculation has been rampant regarding the book's actual release date.

Only hard cover editions of the latest Harry Potter book will be available come the midnight release According to Rowling the decision is two fold. She is concerned with international piracy and wants the readers to experience the book on paper. E-Books only account for minuscule percent of worldwide book sales.

On January 31, Rowling's spokesperson revealed that she had completed the final installment much to the delight and sadness of fans. Rowling took the publishing world by silent storm with her first installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Soccer's Stone. That was a decade ago when she was a welfare mother who wrote in cafes and on trains. With each new book the series has increased in popularity and apparently is set to hit a fever pitch with the Book 7.

Fans are all a twitter, concerned what the title may mean for beloved protagonist. Author's like Stephen King have made personal appeals not to kill off the international hero. Some believe killing off Harry would be one way that Rowling could ensure that no other author takes the mantle upon her death

Rowling says Deathly Hallows will see the demise of two characters instead of the one she had originally intended. During a Radio City Music Hall reading, the author said she does not enjoy killing characters. She killed off the very popular Dumbledore at the end of Book Six.

During the New York visit Rowling said, ''I don't always enjoy killing my characters. I didn't enjoy killing the character who died at the end of Book 6. I really didn't enjoy doing that but I had been planning that for years so it wasn't quite as poignant as you might imagine. I'd already done my grieving when I actually came to write it.''

The series has sold more than 325 in 64 languages.