When does harry potter book 7 come out in store?!

When does harry potter book 7 come out in store?

No one knows yet, they haven't released an offical date because J.K. Rowling hasn't finished writing the book. But a lot of people guess that it will be released 7-7-07. Months and months ago, people speculated that the final book in the Harry Potter series would be released on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year (in the third millennium). Why? Because it’s the seventh book in the Harry Potter series, seven is a powerfully magical number (as we learn in Half-Blood Prince), it’s Harry’s seventh year at Hogwarts, and Lord Voldemort has a seven-part soul. Some would say releasing it on this date would be a fantastic marketing scheme, but then again, others would say something as big as Harry Potter doesn’t need any special marketing; it will sell no matter what. This doesn’t excuse, however, the fact that releasing the book on said date would be a good idea from a marketer’s perspective.
So let’s take a look at some other reasons why releasing Book 7 on 7/7/07 is plausible:

2007 marks the tenth anniversary of when the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, was released. This may not mean much, but isn’t it better to finish off the series after ten years than an odd number like eleven?

On July 17th, 2005 (the day after Half-Blood Prince's publication), regarding the release of Book 7, Jo said: "I am going to say now I think it will be at least another two year wait."

Jo said in her diary on December 25th that 2006 would be the year she would write Book 7. Seeing as it usually takes her a year (sometimes more, but usually less) to write a book, and an additional six months for the publishers to ready it for release, summer of 2007 would seem likely.

In January, she has also said in her diary that writing was going well and that she was “floating along on this flood of inspiration.”

At the 2006 British Book Awards, she told CBBC Newsround that writing was “going well.”

Around March 2006, it was rumored that she had completed four chapters of Book 7.

Releasing it in the summer would mean children would have more time to read the book, and therefore it would sell better. Leaving it until the next summer seems a bit long, but not entirely impropable.

In April Jo mentioned on her site that Book 7 was still going well. Additionally, she thanked MuggleNet staff member Andy (who wrote up a response to the media’s criticism of Jo’s “weight rant”) for saving her time to write half a chapter of Book 7.

In June, JK told Richard & Judy in an interview: "The last book's not finished. But, I'm well into it now."

These are the reasons I can come up with for now. It just seems a good idea and a plausible release based on a realistic time scale. But then again, there are – sigh – other factors to consider which may sway the release date away from our hoped-for 7/7/07.


Jo has three kids now. While she doesn’t constantly have to look after them throughout the day, she probably wants to, thus taking away from the time she can spend writing 7. One of her new year’s resolutions (published on her official site last January) was to keep her children healthy (avoid winter colds) so she could set aside a solid week for writing while getting at least a few hours’ sleep. We just have to take into account that children – especially the age her toddlers are at – can be very time-consuming!

The Order of the Phoenix movie release date: July 13th, 2007. Upon hearing this, thousands of fans immediately gave up on the idea of a summer release for HP 7. What most people note is that Harry Potter bosses would want to stretch out such a colossal money-making phenomenon (probably the biggest the movie and book industries have ever witnessed) as long as humanely possible. Therefore, releasing the last Harry Potter book ever – which is bound to outsell all previous tomes – in the same summer as one of the most anticipated movies of all time isn’t a good idea. Who knows? They may still do it and create enormous hype and anticipation, which would be great for us, but for the people profiting from all this? I’m not too sure.

Jo said in her diary previously that she has a plan for Book 7 but has met a few bumps in the road (“So what I thought were going to be two chapters have now become four.”) She mentions, looking at the plan, that the book shouldn’t be longer than Order of the Phoenix, but clearly isn’t too confident about this – after all, there are a lot of loose ends to tie up. Even though we wouldn’t be complaining if it turned out five times the size of OOTP, a longer book may mean a not-so-close release date.

With all this in mind, the release of Book 7 could potentially go either way. Summer 2007 or summer 2008 – I really don’t think a time in between those dates is likely. However, I’m still leaning towards a summer 2007 release, but that could just be wishful thinking. Whatever the release date, I’m sure we’ll all still enjoy the book just as much. And, if worst comes to worst, we find out it’s not coming out until 2008, just contemplate: there’s nothing more. No other book. Nothing. Harry Potter is over. Do you want that to happen fast?

If you have something to add to this article, please contact Ciaran.

Other points submitted:


As 7/7/07 will mark the two-year anniversary of the London bombings, the release may have to be changed as a mark of respect. On the other hand, the book may be released specifically on this day to pull people's attention away from the memory of this grave event.

Many of you have said that the book would be released on July 31st, 2007 - simply because it's Harry's birthday. I'm not too sure if this is a good enough reason, though.

July 7th is "conveniently" a Saturday and all previous Harry Potter books have been released on a Saturday (at Jo's request) so as not to disturb school time.