The latest Harry Potter book by author JK Rowling almost left publisher Bloomsbury in a "muggle" when it had to order a reprint of 200,000 copies on top of the initial 1m run - before the book even hit the shops.
Pottermania engulfed the country so much so that sales of advanced copies far exceeded predictions.
Bloomsbury production controller Helena Coryndon said: "We took an amazing number of advanced orders so we had to do something. Even after the cut-off period people were ordering and reordering."
The bulk of the latest wizard book in the Harry Potter series, called Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was printed at Clays in Suffolk (PrintWeek, 5 May) and Omnia Books in Glasgow, formerly known as Caledonian International.
The repro work for the hardback cover was produced by The White Quill Press in Croydon. Production director Richard Hughes said that the firms work on the book was produced within a week before being sent, as if by magic, to the printers.
Coryndon said that the sheer scale of Potter-production meant that output from Clays and Omnia was staggered.
"Both printers did it in chunks, it was the only way because they have other customers as well. Its not just the printing time but the packing and distribution as well."
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has broken the UKs record for first day sales. On July 8 some 372,775 copies were sold in British book shops and Internet sites.
The books US publisher, Scholastic, has also ordered printing of another 3m copies, nearly doubling the initial 3.8m run.
Story by John Davies