Melville House Books

Shares of Scholastic and Bloomsbury—the American and British publishers of the Harry Potter books—”surged” after Monday’s announcement that author J.K. Rowling had finished the manuscript of the sixth book in the series, and the announcement yesterday morning that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released simultaneously on !6 July “in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.” According to a Bloomberg wi re story, “Bloomsbury shares rose 8.2 percent to a record 296 pence in London. Scholastic shares rose as much as 4.5 percent, their highest price since January 2003. The stock rose $1.55 o $37.48 at 1:02 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.