Jo Rowling

Here’s the “wizardry” that Amazon teased yesterday: Through an “exclusive license” with Pottermore, Amazon will make all seven Harry Potter e-books free through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library starting June 19. KOLL allows Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle to borrow one e-book free each month.

The e-books will be available in all languages, though the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is U.S.-only. “It’s a commercial deal that makes sense even with a level of cannibalization of my sales,"

Retailers have welcomed the "huge news" J K Rowling is to publish with Little, Brown, with one predicting it will top print and e-book charts. However, an independent bookseller voiced concerns that larger chains and supermarkets may slash its price in order to claim the greatest market share, but added the book's release "can only be a good thing for bookselling". Rival publishers privately expressed shock that they had not been offered the book. Rowling's agent Neil Blair told The Bookseller: "We didn't auction."