The Final Harry Potter

Famed author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling announced this week that the seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released on July 21st.

To date, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is already topping the charts at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com as fans rush online to pre-order the seventh book - despite its $65 price tag.

The previous six books have sold more than 325 million copies in 64 languages and broken countless sales records.

In their New York Times article, Motoko and Bosman discuss the impact on the publishing world the Rowling series has had.