Amazon Sees Pre-Orders Leap for Next Harry Potter Book

Amazon.com said that first-day advance orders for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and last installment of J.K.Rowling's successful book series, were 547% higher than for its predecessor.

Thursday's pre-orders for "Deathly Hallows" exceeded the first two weeks of pre-orders for its predecessor, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," Seattle-based Amazon said.

"Half-Blood Prince," released in July 2005, generated more than 1.5 million pre-orders on Amazon, the online retailer said.

The final Harry Potter book is slated for release on July 21. Scholasticpublishes the book in the United States, while Bloomsbury Publishing handles the book in Great Britain.