As most of you will almost certainly be aware by now, the ever popular Harry Potter series is on its way to the Kindle. The author, J.K. Rowling, is keeping control over the distribution of the books by attaching her sales platform to the Pottermore companion web site that will be opening this coming October. While the combination of extra content and fan loyalty will certainly make the site and eBook sales even more of a success than we expect, in the meantime the anticipation building around the site has left over-zealous fans open to scams built around the pre-release proceedings.
You see, a lucky few have managed to secure invitations to experience the Pottermore site well ahead of time. There was a contest of sorts that allowed the truly interested to get their names in, but it was arranged in such a way as to technically allow somebody to get multiple invites. This, of course, opens to door to eBay sales even if they are technically against the site’s Terms & Conditions. Sadly as we all know by now, I hope, where there are electronic invitation sales, there are scams.
Harry Potter fans hoping to get in have been singled out for everything from hundred dollar fake early access accounts to total identity theft from some fairly convincing dummy sites asking people for far too much information in order to gain entry. Pottermore admins have, naturally, warned people against falling for these scams and have pointed out that even if people do manage to find a legitimate account transfer they will still be banned for breaking the rules, but when people are trying this desperately to get around existing restrictions and rules there is little chance of such advise from the people creating the barriers being heeded.
If you are one of the millions looking forward to the Pottermore site, whether for access to Kindle versions of the books or to enjoy the content, your best bet is to just wait it out. The only worthwhile avenues at this point are the official ones, so if you don’t see what seems to be your way in written about on the Pottermore placeholder like ‘The Magical Quill’ contest has been then you are inviting trouble by pursuing them.
When the site does open up, Pottermore will be completely free to the public. Users will be able to access it in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, with more options coming within the year. There will be over 18,000 words of new material for you to read through, a shop to purchase things like eBooks from, a number of simple games that go along with events in the books, and a generally social experience through which to share your enjoyment of the Harry Potter series. Learn about online RPMSG file.
There is a lot there to get excited about, and if you are a big enough fan to be interested in paying large amounts of money just to get into a soon-to-be-free site then you’re probably very excited indeed, but wait it out. Rowling, Harry Potter, and the Pottermore site will all come together in just a couple more months. No book is important enough to risk identity theft or large sums of wasted money.