The Finnish-language translation of author J.K. Rowling's sixth novel in the Harry Potter series was launched in Finland on Thursday morning.
The staunchest devotees started queuing for a Finnish copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince already on Wednesday evening. Bookstores around Finland started selling the novel at 7 a.m. on Thursday.
The first buyers of the novel had been promised a free T-shirt. However, this was not the reason why the most enthusiastic fans were standing in line early on Thursday morning. The actual reason lay in the atmosphere.
The 13-year-old Helsinki girls Saara Brusila, Maarit Mukala, Mirka Salonen, and Petra Ålander camped out in front of Stockmann’s Akateeminen kirjakauppa ("Academic Bookstore") already at 6.00 p.m. on Wednesday. Around 20 other fans spent the night with them waiting for the store to open at 7.00 a.m. the next morning.
When the doors opened, some 200 first buyers barged into the store in order to buy the brand-new book.
According to Publishers Tammi, the total number of the copies in the first edition was 140,000, which are all currently being sold in bookstores across Finland. While around 30 bookstores in various parts of the country hurried to sell the book for a couple of hours already around midnight, about 100 stores opened their doors today just before 9.00 a.m.
