J.K. Rowling To Publish Harry Potter Series Digitally Via Her Own Website

The Harry Potter book series has made J.K. Rowling one of the most popular authors in the world and made her boatloads of money at the same time. Apparently, when Rowling first negotiated the publishing right to her book series she was able to finagle the ability to keep the rights to the digital publication. Rowling is now set to change how major authors publish digital books by not selling the digital books on an existing platform or via her print publisher.

Rowling will sell the complete series of Potter books directly from her own website called Pottermore. The books will be sold on a proprietary platform and will be DRM-free. The books will be watermarked with the original purchaser's information though much the way Apple does with DRM-free tunes that can be tracked to the original account that purchased them. I can only imagine that the digital version of the Potter books will prove to be hugely successful as well.

Along with the direct sales of the eBooks in the Potter series, which will be usable on just about any eReader, Potter more will also have exclusive content. Rowling has reportedly already written 18,000 words for the site. The exclusive content will include details on characters in the books and places that the series takes place. Fans don't have to buy the digital books to access the extra content offered on the series. Fans can hit Pottermore on July 31 to find out how to gain early access.

[via Wired]