After years of staunch resistance, Author J.K. Rowling is finally ready to explore the possibility of allowing her massively successful Harry Potter books to be converted to a digital format for the e-reader crowd.

Some say Rowling, who has always been notoriously protective of her boy wizard, has resisted the e-book  format in the past due to fears of piracy, the author’s agent, Neil Blair, insists that Rowling has been watching the market waiting for the right time to hop on board.

Analytical business-types estimate that Rowling stands to make up to $100 million in profits off of the digital rights to her series.

[The Shakedown]

I’m not sure I believe Blair. Several years ago when the e-reader first hit the market it may have been seen as a fad, but it’s been going strong for a while now, even before book 7 was released. Rowling’s protective streak over Harry, Ron, and Hermione rivals that of a lioness suffering from PMS, and I bet she was afraid that a digital format would somehow get leaked before the release date. She’s a little crazy like that, and it was once rumored that while going through airport security she resisted letting the the security team thumb through the printed manuscript. Also digital media rights technology has come a long way and it’s a little harder than it used to be to crack digital media.

[Source] ABC