The Harry Potter novels and films have a huge following in and outside the USA

I am deeply impressed by the ample universal vogue of the Harry Potter books. The Harry Potter stories were written by the UK writer J.K. Rowling. She saw the light of day on 31 July 1965. Her name is Joanne Rowling. But she writes under the short form J.K. Rowling because in the beginning her publishing house thought it was a beneficial idea not to show the aspect that she is female. The publishing company thought it could have a negative effect on the sales figures if everybody immediately sees that the writer is a woman. Consequently, instead of showing her first name she used two letters. As she has no middle name she chose Kathleen as basis for the K. in her pseudonym. Kathleen is the name of her grandma.

The first Harry Potter book – Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone – was released mid 1997 in the United Kingdom. Very funny is the fact that only thousand pieces of the first book were released at that time. The original title of the book was not Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, but Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. But when the novel was released to the US market place on 1 September 1998, it was released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.

After that Joanne invented 6 more Harry Potter stories. Now the Harry Potter series consists of seven novels. These are:

• Book 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
• Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Harry Potter novels have been translated into over fifty-five languages and have been published in various countries. Besides the huge success in the US and the United Kingdom, Harry Potter is also quite famous in the European Union. The Harry Potter stories have been publicized to the German public under these titles:

• Vol. 1: Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen
• Vol. 2: Harry Potter und die Kammer des Schreckens
• Vol. 3: Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban
• Vol. 4: Harry Potter und der Feuerkelch
• Vol. 5: Harry Potter und der Orden des Phoenix
• Vol. 6: Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz
• Vol. 7: Harry Potter und die Heiligtuemer des Todes

I must admit that I did not have the opportunity to read all those stories. But there are people who know them all, which is quite impressive and contributes to the big success.