Magician's fans wild about Harry again

Get ready for publishing's ultimate blockbuster sequel: Harry Potter VI.

Setting the stage for another round of midnight bookstore parties and marathon readings into the morning, the penultimate novel in J.K. Rowling's mega-selling series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," will go on sale at 12:01 a.m. on July 16 in the United States, Britain and four other countries, publishers said Tuesday.

"I know you all expected this to happen on Christmas Day, but I was sure that those of you who celebrate Christmas have better things to do on the day itself than fight your way into my study," the British author wrote in a message posted on her Web site, "whereas those of you who DON'T celebrate Christmas would definitely prefer not to wait until the 25th."

Rowling, 39, noted that while she is pregnant with her third child, she has had the time "needed to tinker with the manuscript to my satisfaction and I am as happy as I have ever been with the end result. I only hope you feel it was worth the wait when you finally read it."

The book will also be published July 16 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. With the previous works available in 62 languages, many, many other countries are sure to follow.

The 2005 publishing date means the world will be spared the seemingly interminable three-year wait between Potter IV, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," and Potter V, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which came out in summer 2003.

The news should be celebrated by Rowling's millions of fans and by the struggling publishing industry. Competition for sales began almost immediately, with Amazon.com and the superstore chains Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. announcing 40 percent discounts on the book's $29.99 suggested retail price.

By Tuesday, "Half-Blood Prince" was already No. 1 on Barnes & Noble.com's best-seller list and was in the top 10 on Amazon.com. The lists include pre-ordered books.

The retail price is the same as for Potter V, even though Rowling has strongly hinted she will not approach the industrial-sized 870 pages of "Order of the Phoenix." In an earlier message on her web site, she stated, "According to the plan for book six, it will be quite a bit shorter than 'Order of the Phoenix.' I am not going to swear on my children's lives that that is going to be the case, but I am 99 percent certain of it."