Calling All Real-Life Harry Potters--Ordinary People With An Extraordinary Name Invited To Tell Their Stories on Abebooks.com
Harry Potter is not just the name of the world’s most famous fictional wizard. Many ordinary folks, from priests to professors, are also called Harry Potter – a bizarre twist of fate that has changed their daily lives for better or worse.
New York, NY (PRWEB) June 3, 2005 -- The world’s largest online marketplace
for books, Abebooks.com has discovered hundreds of Harry Potters in North
America who were leading normal lives until JK Rowling’s fantasy books became
worldwide best-sellers. Now these people can reveal their true stories and have
the chance to win USD $1000 and another $1000 for the library, literacy charity
or school of their choice.
To celebrate the publication of Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince on July 16, Abebooks.com is inviting real Harry
Potters to step into the limelight and reveal the highs and lows of being an
ordinary person with the same name as the world’s most famous wizard. Any
real-life Harry Potters, who qualify to enter and are profiled on Abebooks.com,
stand a chance of winning this unique contest.
Abebooks.com has dedicated
an entire section to these remarkable stories of coincidence and entries already
include:
- A Latin teacher from Michigan, who wears Harry Potter
spectacles,
- A retired seaman from Florida, who is the third of four Harry
Potters in his family,
- A children’s video-maker from Texas, who has
written a book called Tory: The Dust Devil,
- And a lawyer from London who
uses his famous name to his advantage in court and even has a hand-written
letter from JK Rowling.
The profiles and contest entry details can be
found at www.abebooks.com/harrypotter. Abebooks.com will also reward
procrastinating Muggles by offering 1000 dramatically discounted copies of Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at what is anticipated to be the cheapest price
in North America - $12.99, a full $5 less than the closest competitor and the
official list price. Orders can be made from July 11 for delivery on July 16 –
the release date for The Half-Blood Prince.
"We stumbled across a real
Harry Potter, who is an author, and that sparked our imagination," said Lisa
Stevens, VP of marketing at Abebooks.com. "We realized there are hundreds more
sharing their name with the world’s most famous fictional person and we’re
offering them a chance to tell their story. It’s a unique way to examine the
impact of the Harry Potter phenomenon as excitement builds around the launch of
the new book. If there’s a Harry Potter in your life, we want to hear from
him."
Research revealed many Harry Potters are publicly listed in US
telephone directories with more believed to be located in Canada, UK, Australia
and New Zealand. Aside from the Harrys featured on the site, Abebooks discovered
a college professor, an accountant, a farmer and another lawyer, who all shared
the famous name.
About Abebooks:
Abebooks is the world's largest
online marketplace for books, with more than 70 million new, second-hand, rare,
and out-of-print titles listed for sale by more than 13,000 independent
booksellers from around the world. Abebooks has millions of registered customers
who collectively purchase more than 20,000 books a day from its five global
websites (Abebooks.com, Abebooks.co.uk, Abebooks.de, Abebooks.fr and
Iberlibro.com). A true internet success story, Abebooks.com has been selling
books online since 1996, and is a private company based in Victoria, BC Canada,
with offices in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Contact:
Dustin
Rideout
250-412-3238
e-mail protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb247692.htm