LONDON — Harry Potter fans will have to wait a bit longer to buy the magic tales in electronic form.
The creators of the online Potter portal said Friday that the launch of an e-book store has been pushed back to next year.
The seven Harry Potter books had been due to go on sale this month, exclusively through the “Pottermore” website. The site is a combination of virtual encyclopedia, role-playing game and online community for fans of author J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard.
It launched in July and is so far accessible to 1 million registered users chosen through an online competition.
In a blog posting on the site, “Pottermore” management said registration would be open to everyone from the end of October, and the online store would open in “the first half of 2012.”
The posting said the delay would “allow us to focus on our first priority: opening ‘Pottermore’ to as many people as possible and making the experience as good as it can be.”
The Harry Potter novels have sold 450 million copies but have never been available as e-books. The Associated Press
