No Beedle the Bard midnight release parties?! Potter fans unite--let bookstores know what you think

October 23, 1:38 AMBook ExaminerMichelle Kerns

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It's been a rough year for Potter-heads.

With the series over, fans (and bookstores, whose summer sales were down 26%) are in a lethargy of Potter withdrawal and looking desperately for a literary felix felicis to ease the pain. When the much-anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film was bumped from its November release date only to be replaced by a tepid-looking Twilight, fans were gnashing their teeth and donning the sackcloth and ashes. In fact, the only good thing about 2008 for Potter lovers is Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, set to hit bookstores December 4th.

After a year of frustration and disappointment, Potter-heads are beyond ready to dust off the wizard costumes and let it all hang out at a rousing midnight release party flowing with plenty of butterbeer and arcane Hogwarts trivia. The only problem with this scenario is that no bookstores seem to be hosting a release party.

While many will open their doors at midnight to sell the book to the thronging masses, at this time, no bookstores--including Barnes and Noble Bookstores and Borders Books--have any plans to hold celebrations. (Barnes and Noble has confirmed they will NOT be.)

Whether this is because they're still worn out after cleaning up from the Deathly Hallows bash, because they haven't received enough preorders to think it would be a worthwhile endeavor, or because December 4th is a Thursday and parents might not be as willing to let precious Sam carouse around until 2am in a Draco Malfoy costume since school is the next day (where is a Skivving Snackbox when you need one?) isn't certain; what is certain is that fans will be about as thrilled to receive this news as a hefty dose of veratiserum in their morning pumpkin juice.

But don't despair my fellow Potter-heads--there is still time to convince The Man that The Tales of Beedle the Bard's release deserves a shin-dig. I'm calling on all of you lit geeks out there to use any/all of the links below to let the major bookstores know what you think!

Contact Information for Borders Books

This link will take you directly to the Borders Contact Us page. Scroll down through the FAQ list to the box provided for comments, suggestions, and questions.

If you would like to also directly contact Borders stores in your area, this link will take you directly to the Borders Store Locator page. Put in your info and it will give you the addresses and phone numbers of the nearest branches.

Contact Information for Barnes and Noble Bookstores

This link will take you directly to the Barnes and Noble Customer Service page. At the very bottom is an section to write and send your message.

To contact Barnes and Noble stores in your area, follow this link to their Store Locator.

Send this information to any like-minded Potter fans of your aquaintance and let us know of any responses/successes you may get!

Huzzah!