Behind the boy wizard...a billionaire?

It’s no surprise that Bloomsbury is racking up orders on the final installment of the "Harry Potter" series. You can find plenty on the Web about how the publisher is being deluged.

But what is surprising is Bloomsbury’s next move. You might expect more books cut from the same cloth--look at all the Knights Templar books that flooded the market last year in an attempt to capitalize on "The Da Vinci Code" craze and stoke the fires. But the subject mentioned in news reports about the publisher’s post-Potter plans is not a Potter clone but a book about Warren Buffett.

A study of the legendary investor’s philosophy and life, titled "The Snowball," will be published by the firm in spring 2008. In light of Buffett’s large and devoted fan base and his amazing career--some might even say it’s (that’s right) magical--maybe the decision isn’t that strange.
Nick Owchar