In light of the META thread about 1997, mentioning that Harry Potter is now up for discussion, I have a Harry Potter question. As a fairly avid book reader in the 1990s, but already beyond their intended age range, the first I was aware of the series was a news item about kids getting all excited about the next book in the series, and all the advertising only came later.
So, my question, was Harry Potter popularity fundamentally a grassroots thing, or did the first publisher really push the books?
The book's popularity received a tremendous boost by winning various awards within the first year of its release, primarily a National Book Award and a Nestle Smarties Book Prize mere months after publication, ensuring the book was well-known by UK children only 6 months after release. After that its popularity grew due to its positive reception from children - only a year after its release it won virtually every children's book award decided by children.