It didn't take a Hogwarts magician to know this day would eventually come.

The bookstore feature of J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website went live Tuesday, enabling English-language readers to buy the digital editions of all seven Harry Potter novels -- and the audiobook editions -- from anywhere in the world. Editions in French, Italian, German and Spanish will be the next wave.

go live: 上線

audiobook:有聲讀物

The digital books are accessible on dedicated e-readers, tablets, personal computers and mobile phones. The first three Harry Potter titles are priced at $7.99 each, while the remaining four titles, which are longer, cost $9.99 each. Enhanced editions that may have video and other features will eventually follow.

The bookstore's website is .

Ms. Rowling's books have sold an estimated 450 million physical copies and been translated into more than 70 languages. But because the author retained the digital rights to her works when she signed her publishing contracts, e-book editions weren't yet available.

digital rights:數字版權

Last June, Ms. Rowling said she was launching Pottermore as a site for Harry Potter fans to gather online, find new material -- and eventually buy her e-books. The retail side of the site initially was planned to launch last October, but it took Pottermore longer than expected to ensure the site could handle the expected volume of orders.In November, a veteran digital publishing executive, Charlie Redmayne, was brought in to get the site on track. The content side of the site, which is still in beta-testing, is expected to go live in early April. By selling the e-books on her own site, Ms. Rowling will keep most of the revenue, rather than sharing much of it with her publishers as is usually the case. On Tuesday afternoon, consumers were able to buy Harry Potter digital books via links on bookstores operated by Sony Corp., Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. The digital editions download directly onto the Sony Reader, Kindle and Nook from the Pottermore site. The retailers will get a cut of the sales.

get on track:走上正軌

Pottermore hasn't struck a similar deal with Apple Inc., said Mr. Redmayne, which means that its books won't appear within Apple's iBookstore. Apple device owners will be able to access the books through other retailer apps.

An Apple representative declined to comment.

回顧【讀報筆記】系列>>

點擊查看口譯備考專題,閱讀更多相關文章!