Barnes & Noble.
It has a 115-year history and is the largest physical chain bookstore and the second-largest online bookstore in the United States.
As of mid-1998, it owned 352 bookstores on American college campuses alone; it had as many as 450 community bookstores; and there were over a thousand commercial bookstores in major cities, making it truly the largest chain bookstore in America today.
On August 3rd, when its major stores opened, a large number of customers flocked in to buy books.
"Excuse me, do you have any 'Harry Potter' books?"
A young man, about 20 years old, asked the bookstore guide.
"Yes, they're right there."
The guide responded and pointed to the large display shelf in the most prominent position at the entrance of the bookstore.
Wow!
On the large display shelf, thousands of copies of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" were neatly arranged.
"Wow~ that's a lot," exclaimed the 20-year-old.
Subsequently, many of the customers who entered the bookstore were also there for the "Harry Potter" books.
They eagerly paid for their purchases.
"The placement is really eye-catching; you can see it as soon as you enter the main hall," a middle-aged man remarked.
"Of course."
An old woman, around 50 years old, chimed in, "Don't forget, this is a book personally prefaced and recommended by Dylan."
Another young girl laughed, "To be placed on the main display shelf, without saying anything else, Golden Dawn Publishing must have spent a lot of money."
In fact, that was indeed the case.
Barnes & Noble, as the largest physical chain bookstore in the United States, sees countless publishing houses competing for the main display shelves in its major bookstores every day. Golden Dawn Publishing naturally paid a considerable price to secure this prime spot.
"Give me a copy of 'Harry Potter.'"
"I heard Dylan loves it, so I'll buy a copy to see."
"Hmm, I just read a bit, and I think it's really good."
Many customers buying books around them started discussing. Of course, as time passed, more and more people came to buy "Harry Potter."
In just one hour, the Barnes & Noble bookstore in the Los Angeles Highlands Shopping Plaza alone sold 370 copies of "Harry Potter."
This sales figure is definitely not low!
It's important to know that in 1993, after the movie "Jurassic Park" was released, its namesake novel was also re-released and, of course, placed on Barnes & Noble's main recommendation shelf. At the Barnes & Noble in the Los Angeles Highlands Shopping Plaza, its sales in one hour were only 420 copies.
That's right, the current sales of the first "Harry Potter" book are lower than "Jurassic Park."
However, don't forget, this is the sales figure without the "Harry Potter" movie being released...
Portland, the capital of Oregon.
At the entrance of the famous Powell's Books, dozens of people were queuing, all customers who came to buy "Harry Potter."
Many people began to complain incessantly!
"Damn Powell's Books, they didn't even stock enough 'Harry Potter'?! "
"Yeah, I never expected that Powell's Books, as the largest bookstore in Oregon, could ignore Dylan's influence."
"Buddy, I just found out that Demi Moore, the owner of Powell's Books, is Dylan's sworn enemy. How could he stock enough 'Harry Potter'?"
"So that's it, but I believe no capitalist would pass up on money."
In fact, they guessed correctly!
The manager of the Powell's Books Portland branch was currently on the phone with his boss.
"Boss, we weren't adequately prepared for the 'Harry Potter' books. The 500 copies we prepared sold out in less than 2 hours, and now there are still more than 70 people queuing outside the bookstore."
The manager was drenched in sweat.
His boss and Dylan were sworn enemies, so they hadn't prepared that many "Harry Potter" books in advance.
Of course, he also wanted to curry favor with his boss.
"You idiot!"
From the phone, Demi Moore, the owner of Powell's Books, was heard cursing incessantly: "It's true that Dylan and I are sworn enemies, but we don't have any animosity towards money! Why didn't you prepare more? What are you calling me for now? Call the publishing house immediately!"
"Yes, yes, yes~" the manager repeatedly agreed.
"What are you still standing there for? Go solve it quickly! If you can't solve it, then you can resign and leave, you imbecile!" The roar came again from the phone...
Golden Dawn Publishing Group.
At this moment, everyone in the operations department of the publishing group was very busy, constantly answering calls from all over the United States.
"Barnes & Noble's 3 Oakland branches need 2,000 copies of 'Harry Potter,' right? But I'm sorry, we don't have that much in stock right now. Providing 1,500 copies today is already the limit."
"Sparrow Bookstore, you need 1,200 copies, no, no, no, we don't have that many. I can only give you 800 copies. Yes, we are old friends, but I'm also in a difficult position right now, you have to understand me, buddy."
"White Diamond Bookstore, 900 copies."
"Harry Bookstore, 2,000 copies."
"Snow White and Prince's Home, 1,400 copies, arriving soon!"
...
In just one day, all 500,000 copies of the first print run of "Harry Potter" were sold out.
When Kyle saw the report, he immediately instructed, "Alexander, tell Ms. Hassan at the publishing house to print 'Harry Potter' with full effort. Within one week, work at full throttle and produce at least 2 million copies."
"Uh… boss, won't that be too many?" Alexander hesitated.
His hesitation was reasonable; the reason 500,000 copies could be sold on the first day was due to Dylan's influence, not the quality of "Harry Potter" itself.
According to the news Alexander received, Steve Jobs alone purchased 5,000 copies of "Harry Potter" in one go.
Don't ask why!
Because Steve Jobs was a loyal fanboy of Dylan!
If Dylan hadn't written the preface for "Harry Potter" and personally recommended it, Steve Jobs would definitely not have bought a single Harry Potter book.
"Boss, our 'Harry Potter' hasn't been adapted into a film yet, so sales will definitely drop tomorrow. 200 copies is a bit much," Alexander said gravely.
To his words, Kyle smiled calmly.
A subordinate questioning Kyle's decision was a privilege Kyle granted Alexander, because Kyle himself had some shortcomings that needed others to compensate for.
Of course, if Kyle had made up his mind, then there was only one path: execution.
"Go. Don't underestimate our 'Harry Potter.' Forget 2 million copies, do you believe that once the movie is released, it can sell tens of millions of copies!" Kyle laughed loudly.
"..."
Alexander naturally didn't believe it, but he was still shocked.
"Harry Potter" can sell tens of millions of copies?
Is that real or fake?!
In fact, as of 2020, the "Harry Potter" series of books has sold 390 million genuine copies worldwide, second only to "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung" and "The Bible."
Of course, this was mainly the result of film adaptations and the operations of Warner Bros.!
In the original timeline, the first printing of "Harry Potter" was handled by a small British publishing house, and the results were not very good.
In three months, less than 1,000 copies were sold.
However, with Warner Bros. entering the scene, it sold 3.9 million copies worldwide in the United States in less than 40 days.
The advantages of a media conglomerate were fully evident!
Even though Golden Dawn Entertainment Group is far from being on par with Warner Bros. Group, under Kyle's efforts, while he wouldn't dare to say other places, in the book distribution market of the United States alone, Kyle dared to compete with Warner Bros.