Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Google Books to distribute Harry Potter e-books

Andrew Couts
By
Pottermore
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Last month, author JK Rowling announced the launch of Pottermore.com, a website devoted to the expansive world of Harry Potter. But the most significant revelations from Rowling wasn’t the website — it  was that her  Harry Potter series would, for the first time, be release in e-book format. And today, we’ve found out how exactly that will happen

First, Rowling has decided to shun the publishing industry by self-publishing the e-book version of the Potter series, and selling the books directly to customers, through the Pottermore website. To achieve this controversial goal, the Harry Potter series will be distributed through Google Books, starting this fall. Digital audiobooks formats will also be available.

Recommended Videos

For customers, this means that “[w]hen you buy a Harry Potter e-book from Pottermore, you will be able to choose to keep it in your Google Books library in-the-cloud, as well as on other e-reading platforms,” the statement on the Inside Google Books blog reads. In other words: Harry Potter e-books will be DRM free, and you can use them on pretty much any device you want, including Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices. (It’s not yet clear, however, whether the books will work on Amazon’s Kindle.)

Related

Google says it will also handle all the financial transactions associated with the e-book sales, as well as any other merchandise purchased through Pottermore, using its payment platform, Google Checkout. YouTube will also be used for “global video broadcasts” associated with Rowling and Pottermore.

In addition to serving as a storefront for Rowling’s digital Harry Potter editions, Pottermore is intended to be a central hub for Potter fans who wish to delve deeper into the series’ magical world. Rowling will also use the site as a platform to release additional Harry Potter material that she’s written — not another book, mind you, but tangential material, more than 18,000 words-worth.

Pottermore is expected to officially launch in October. Fans can register their email address now to receive updates.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andrew Couts
Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
I keep forgetting about the Apple Watch Series 9’s coolest feature
Apps on the Apple Watch Series 9's screen.

I’m just going to come out and say it: I love the Apple Watch Series 9. A couple of weeks ago, I returned to wearing it every day after an extended period of not doing so. And you know what? I was surprised by how much I’d missed it.

But one thing has bothered me this time around: There's a feature I haven't been using. Not because it’s bad, but because I tend to forget it's there.
Effortless to own and wear

Read more
3 foldable phone deals you should seriously consider today
The Google Pixel Fold with the screen open.

For those who are thinking about getting a foldable phone, we've rounded up three foldable phone deals for you to consider as your next purchase. Motorola is currently selling the Motorola Razr at $200 off, which brings its price down to $500 from $700, and the Motorola Razr Plus at $300 off, which lowers its price to $700 from $1,000. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel Fold is available from Best Buy with a $500 discount that slashes its price to $1,299 from $1,799. You can be sure that you won't regret purchasing any of these devices because they're all included in our roundup of the best folding phones, but you need to hurry because the offers may expire at any moment.
Motorola Razr -- $500, was $700

The Motorola Razr features a 1.5-inch external OLED display and a 6.9-inch Full HD+ internal pOLED display, with decent performance provided by its Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM. It's got a 64MP main camera and a 13MP wide-angle camera at the back, plus a 32MP selfie camera inside. The folding phone features a metal chassis that's surrounded by soft but durable leather, and it folds without a gap.

Read more
The OnePlus 12R is still one of 2024’s best smartphone deals
OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition in hand.

OnePlus is still quite new to me, as I was a lifelong iPhone user until I joined Digital Trends. However, OnePlus has a pretty solid reputation in the mobile world, and now I can see why, as the OnePlus 12 is one of my favorite smartphones that I’ve used so far this year.

But the OnePlus 12 isn’t the only phone that OnePlus launched in 2024. There is also the more affordable value option, the OnePlus 12R, which even comes in a cool Genshin Impact Edition.

Read more