Some 'Potter' fans keep tome shut, lips sealed

By Rob Hiaasen | Sun reporter

July 20, 2007

Danielle Sank received Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the mail Tuesday - followed by a phone call from the book's publisher Wednesday.

Scholastic Corp. offered the 17-year-old from Pasadena a $50 gift card and a Potter T-shirt if she agreed not to divulge anything about the novel to anyone, Sank said. She agreed - and has been carrying the book with her since. "I know my mom will read it, and I won't let her yet."

Sank was among the Potter fans who'd received the book days ahead of its 12:01 a.m. release tomorrow. She ordered it from DeepDiscount.com, an Illinois supplier that is facing legal action, along with Chicago-based book distributor Levy Home Entertainment, from Scholastic, J.K. Rowling's U.S. publisher. It issued a statement Wednesday that about one one-hundredth of 1 percent of the 12 million U.S. copies had been released early, or roughly 1,200.

Sank said the Scholastic representative told her they were contacting names on DeepDiscount's shipping list to offer the gifts in exchange for cooperation. Scholastic did not return a call or e-mail yesterday for comment.

David Gerstman, 46, of Baltimore, also received his copy, a gift from his father-in-law, early from DeepDiscount. He said he has resisted peeking at the ending.

"It's actually a very clever marketing ploy," the computer programmer said of the timed released. "I give them a lot of credit for building up the suspense."

Jon Hopkins, a 25-year-old software engineer from Davidsonville, had received his copy from DeepDiscount on Tuesday. He provided his copy to The Sun, where his sister-in-law works. Sun reporter Mary Carole McCauley wrote a review of the book that appeared online Wednesday afternoon and in print yesterday. The Sun did not pay for the book.

A review also appeared online Tuesday evening and in print yesterday in The New York Times, which said it purchased the book in a New York store. Neither review revealed the book's ending.

rob.hiaasen@baltsun.com