THE seven Harry Potter novels will now be available in e-book form. So said author JK Rowling at the launch of a new interactive online website Pottermore (www.pottermore.com).

Rowling gave the clearest indication yet that she would not write another Harry Potter story.

"I do have closure with Harry," Rowling said in London at the pottermore.com launch.

"I have no plans to write another novel. I'm pretty sure I'm done on the novel front. But it was fun while it lasted."

The e-books will be exclusively available from October in several languages. They will be available on all major electronic reading devices.

"It is my view you can't hold back progress," Rowling said of the electronic launch.

"E-books are here and here to stay. Later than a lot of people, I for the first time downloaded e-books and it's miraculous for travel and for children in particular. I feel great about taking Harry into this new medium," she said.

The announcement is major news in the world of publishing, which Rowling has taken by storm with her record-setting Potter series. The novels have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and the e-books could reach a new, even larger audience.

The announcement comes three weeks before the theatrical release of the eighth and final Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, which will bring to a close one of cinema's most successful franchises.

Rowling said that Pottermore was about giving something back to her fans around the world, who were among the first to create a large and influential online community.

It was also about encouraging people to read more, she added.

"We knew there was a big demand for e-books, but I wanted it to be something more than that," she explained.

"I wanted to pull it back to the reading, to the literary and story experience. I've had a lot to do with virtually every aspect of it. - Reuters