Harry Potter and the amazing exploding book industry

Despite the obvious demand, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has adamantly refused to offer electronic versions of her phenomenally popular series for young adults — until now.

As part of the launch of an interactive website called Pottermore, the billionaire writer also announced that e-book versions of the novels will be available directly through the site for all major platforms. In one fell swoop, Rowling has cut both her publishers and booksellers such as Amazon out of the picture. Not everyone has that kind of power, of course, but Rowling’s move shows how the playing field in publishing continues to be disrupted. The author said the Pottermore site will offer extra content that she has written about the characters in the books, which have sold an estimated 450 million copies and made her one of the most successful authors of all time. There will also be a social network of sorts built into the site that allows readers to connect with each other, play games and share their thoughts about the novels and their characters. Rowling said the site will launch in beta at the end of July for a small group of users, and their feedback will be used to develop the full version that will launch in October.