New 'Harry Potter' book sets another record -- for price

NEW YORK -- The new "Harry Potter" book, still five months from publication, has apparently already set a record: The highest-priced new children's novel in history.

Scholastic Children's Books, the U.S. publisher of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," announced Thursday a suggested retail price of $29.99.

"That's definitely the highest price for a children's novel we've ever seen," said Diane Mangan, director of children's merchandising at the superstore chain Borders Group Inc.

"That does seem to be the highest," said Carolyn Brown, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble.

The previous Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," was published in 2000 with a suggested price of $25.95. Most children's stories cost far less. A popular novel from last fall, Cornelia Funke's "The Thief Lord," had a list price of $16.95.

Increased costs

A spokeswoman for Scholastic, Judy Corman, acknowledged that some customers may object to the price, but cited increased production costs and the new book's anticipated length, well over 700 pages.

"Clearly, the cost has gone up for printing, paper, etc.,"' she said. "We're hoping people can afford it, but this is a very big book, a third larger than the last Potter book, and we have to be realistic."

Few will actually pay $29.99 because stores offer significant discounts. Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, which had been selling the book for $17.97, will now charge $17.99.

"We had been making an educated guess about how much the list price would be," said Amazon.com spokeswoman Kristin Schaefer. Customers who already ordered the book from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble will still pay $17.97.