Newspapers reveal details of book

Today is D-day: delivery day to thousands of bookshops around the world of the seventh and final instalment of the staggeringly successful Harry Potter series.

Given the huge print run of 12 million, and the associated international interest in its much-awaited ending, it was inevitable that some copies were going to go astray before the official launch tonight. The Leaky Cauldron, popular meeting place for Hogwarts' famous students, isn't the only thing that's got holes in it this week.

Yesterday, the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun both published reviews of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in online versions of their newspapers. New York Times critic Machiko Kakutani ended her review by writing: "JK Rowling's monumental, spellbinding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas - from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to Star Wars. And true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, "Soprano"-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big-screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people's fates."

While neither newspaper actually gave away the ending, in which Rowling herself has said somebody dies, they both did reveal parts of the plot. So how did they get copies of the book given that the strict and very public embargo on its sale is supposed to be worldwide?

The Times explained that a member of staff had simply gone out and bought a copy in a Manhattan bookshop. Apparently, embargoed books in that city somehow mysteriously do get put out for advance sale - whether accidentally or on purpose.

The Baltimore Sun said its copy had legitimately arrived in the post to a member of staff, who had pre-ordered it. It then emerged that 1,200 copies of the book were mistakenly sent out across the US two days early by an online retailer. Scholastic, Rowling's US publishers, has already announced it will be taking legal action against those organisations which broke the sales embargo.

One way or the other, neither JK Rowling nor her British publishers, Bloomsbury, were happy with the leaks. Yesterday, Rowling gave a statement in which she said: "I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry's final destination by themselves, in their own time."

Bloomsbury has made a fortune out of its most famous author, but ironically, bookshops don't make much money out of the Potter books. Supermarket chains such as Asda and Tesco greatly undercut the bookshops. The cover price of the latest book is £17.99 (€26), but Tesco has said it will sell it for £8.87 (€13).

To date, the Harry Potter series has sold more than 325 million copies worldwide, and been translated into 65 languages, including Irish. There are also five films and all the associated merchandising.

Rowling is now richer than Queen Elizabeth, worth £526 million.

When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale, it will end not only the speculation about what happens to its bespectacled hero, but a phenomenon that turned into the most successful publishing brand ever.