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Yes, the latest Harry Potter book is practically leaping out of its cardboard boxes, twitching with excitement. Yes, lots of parties tonight. Many children will be up past their bedtimes. One would think the publisher would have set a more reasonable release time for the book, knowing how cranky children can be without a full night’s rest.

And by children, we’re not just talking about the under-18 set.

As we will not be able to stay up that late, nor will we be inclined to watch breathless local news accounts of pre-party planning and long lines, we are filing our story now:

The new Harry Potter book was snapped up by eager fans, some of whom arrived at bookstores wearing costumes depicting their favorite characters from the popular series. Adults and children alike have embraced the antics of Harry and his friends, and the series has been credited with spurring increased interest in reading among these populations.

The publisher expects to sell out its initial print run of 10 million (that’s a lot of zeroes) copies and return to the press for additional runs. We should note that with so many first editions floating around, the collectible value of the sixth book in the series is just about none.

In entirely unrelated news, the stock value of Scholastic rose today. It appears to be related to some sort of spell, and market-watchers have expressed concern that magic was involved. An investigation is pending. In other unrelated news, The Economist takes a quick glance at the economics of publishing. How publishing can be considered a real business remais perplexing.

• The latest volume in the Harry Potter series is set to break all publishing records, to the delight of booksellers. The success of the Potter books has also made its author vastly wealthy and provided a windfall for its publisher. But it is an oddity in an industry that is growing slowly and rarely sees bumper profits