One Million Barnes & Noble Pre-Orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Midnight Magic Parties at Over 660 Barnes & Noble Stores Across the Country

Business Wire, July 11, 2005

NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, announced today that pre-orders for the new J. K. Rowling book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, total more than one million at Barnes & Noble stores and at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), making it the bestselling pre-order book of all time. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince goes on sale at 12:01AM on Saturday, July 16, and Barnes & Noble stores nationwide will be hosting "Midnight Magic" parties on Friday, July 15, and remain open past midnight to accommodate the fans that want to be the first to buy the book.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is outselling the summer's blockbuster movies, and it hasn't even landed on the shelves yet," said Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble. "Barnes & Noble's distribution centers are working around the clock to make sure that all Harry Potter fans receive their copy at the stroke of midnight as promised, and for that Friday night, our bookstores will become part of the books' magic."

On Friday evening, July 15, at 7:20 the Union Square Barnes & Noble (33 East 17th Street) in Manhattan will have a taped broadcast of J. K. Rowling from Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. The broadcast will also be available at that time on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com). Jim Dale, the Grammy winning actor responsible for bringing the Harry Potter characters to life on audio books and winner of the Audie Awards' prestigious 2004 Audio Book of the Year for his work on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will host the Union Square Midnight Magic party. The store will be transformed into the magical world of Harry Potter, with fun and games at Diagon Alley, Eelops Owl Emporium (with live owls and rabbits), the Apothecary, Ollivander's, Hogwarts Castle, and the Dark Forest.

More than 660 Barnes & Noble stores across the country will also host "Midnight Magic" parties on that evening. Potter fans young and old will be treated to everything from wand-making lessons and face painting to live magic shows. In preparation for these parties, Barnes & Noble has:

--Purchased one million commemorative Harry Potter bracelets.

--Printed one million in-store posters.

--Purchased one million pairs of Harry Potter glasses.

--Inked one million temporary lightning bolt tattoos.

--Plucked 370,000 feathers.

--Rounded up numerous live owls, snakes and magical critters.

At these Midnight Magic parties, Barnes & Noble expects:

--375,000 magic wands to be made.

--250,000 children to take home a photo of themselves with Harry Potter.

--100,000 chocolate chip cookies to be sold.

Barnes & Noble stores and Barnes & Noble.com are offering Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for the discounted price of $17.99, 40 percent off the list price; for Barnes & Noble Members, the price is further discounted, to $16.19. The compact disc and audiocassettes for the unabridged book will also be available. Customers can place pre-orders at any Barnes & Noble store or online at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com).

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 821 bookstores in 50 states. For the fourth year in a row, the company is the nation's top retail brand for quality, according to the EquiTrend(R) Brand Study by Harris Interactive(R). Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web's largest e-commerce sites and the number one online bookseller for quality among e-commerce companies, according to the latest EquiTrend survey.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate Web site: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com.