Quoth The Raven: Pottermore!

Brick and mortar bookshops are very concerned about the e-book. It's cutting into their profits.

Now comes J.K. Rowling and the electronic versions of the Harry Potter books, and the concern has become annoyance.

Ms. Rowling made a fortune off the hard-cover series and both her publisher and book vendors delighted with every new installment. People flocked to actual stores, rather than order from Amazon, so that they could have Harry Potter instantly in their hands, rather than wait for An Post to get around to making the delivery.

The author has decided to join the ranks of the digitally published, to capture what audience might be left. She is not, however, cutting the bookstores in on the game. Ms. Rowling is doing what so many other authors have done and is going direct to digital herself.

Bloomsbury will receive a portion of the profits, and it's only fitting since they took a chance on an unpublished writer with a YA manuscript without knowing if it would tank or end up defining a genre.

But the only place you can buy the electronic Harry is through the Pottermore website. You can't wander into Waterstone's and download there. You can't go to Amazon and purchase a Kindle version.

Book store owners are upset because they've served as the browsing department for too long. You can always stroll into a shop, pick up the book, thumb through the pages, and then whip out your smart phone to order the e-book from someone else. The shop still has to pay their rent and overhead, but they don't benefit from the transaction.

It's the author's prerogative, of course. Ms. Rowling stands to make more by controlling the digital edition herself. In addition, the website will offer interactive games and the like, to generate continued interest and enthusiasm for all things Potter.

In the end, Pottermore might boost hardcover sales among adults who are purchasing for the children in their lives. You want to give something a bit more permanent than an electronic download for Christmas, and an e-book isn't something to wrap and put under the tree.

There is no easy answer, as a new technology undercuts the old and leaves everyone wondering where things are headed. Buy digital, but support your local independent book seller. There's still something to be said for a wall covered with books, and that's not a setting you can create with a Kindle.