Pottermore Publishing’s Post-Pandemic Profits Dropped by 40%
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many turned to their hobbies or began new ones: baking, knitting, reading, and more. The global digital publisher of the Wizarding World books, Pottermore Publishing, benefitted from Harry Potter fans’ thirst for reading during this time, but post-pandemic, last year’s profits saw a fall of 40%.
The sales of the Harry Potter e-books and digital audiobooks on Pottermore in 2020 saw a pre-tax profit of £3.8 million ($4.6 million), and in 2021, this rose by a huge 150%, to £9.5 million ($11.5 million). Since then, however, in the year leading up to March 31, 2022, these figures dropped by 40%, leading to a pre-tax profit of £5.7 million ($6.9 million).
Pottermore has stated that despite this, digital reading remains “hugely popular” and audiobook listening is “strong.” In the 2022/2023 year, Pottermore is predicted to secure “another profitable performance.”
Pottermore Publishing launched in 2012 and has published digital editions of the Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, and Wizarding World books in more than 25 languages, which are available on smartphones, smart speakers, tablets, and e-readers.
Pottermore Publishing and Storytel will be producing audiobooks of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Quidditch Through the Ages,” and “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” in ten different languages.
During the pandemic, in an attempt to make the Harry Potter books available to those being homeschooled, Pottermore Publishing partnered with the Blair Partnership, making the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone available to stream for free and temporarily allowing teachers to make the book’s reading available to their pupils.
In May, in support of Ukraine, Pottermore Publishing made free Ukrainian-language digital editions of Harry Potter, helping families who have been affected by the country’s conflict.
As Professor Dumbledore once said, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic” (DH2), and whether those words are read from a book or listened to through an audiobook, it’s clear that Pottermore Publishing is helping the magic of the Harry Potter series continue to live on.
