Poaching on Hogwart's Land

L-R: Marius, Stefanie and Christian work the lineup outside Chapters

Oscar's Art Books shouldn't exist. It's been operating for 17 years in its current location, on West Broadway near Granville, and has prospered even when the Chapters megastore opened almost directly across the street. Sean O'Flynn, the owner, attributes this success to specialization and no staff turnover.

Two years ago, O'Flynn decided to undercut the launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He sold copies at a 21 per cent discount instead of Chapters' 20 per cent, and on the night the book went on sale, he walked across the street with a sandwich board and lured people to his shop, like the Pied Piper.

For the launch of the seventh and last book, O'Flynn did it again, dispatching three people to work the block-long lineup outside Chapters and lure them away with the promise of shorter lines and a 30-cent discount. By the people lined up the full length of his store just before midnight, some of them sporting striped scarves or snakes on their faces, it seemed to have worked.

Oscar's owner Sean O'Flynn and Stefanie, with the adult and children's editions

Multi-media, mega-franchise events like the Harry Potter launch can be so huge that even people who are outside the official commercial venture can benefit, poaching a little of the media buzz and exposure for their own use. Apart from the book sales, Oscar's gets notoriety for positioning itself as the plucky independent thumbing its figurative nose at the big box conglomerate. Unauthorized books can puzzle out theories for how the stories will end. Would higher-brow authors like Philip Pullman or Lemony Snicket get as much exposure if JK Rowling hadn't created the reading audience for young adult fantasy? Even fan fiction writers benefit, personally if not financially, from the increased interest and therefore increased readership. (Fanfiction.net lists over 300,000 Harry Potter stories.)