The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Sales climb for Booker 'dozen'

04.09.08 Caroline Horn

The 13 books longlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize have each seen sales increase since the line-up was declared five weeks ago, in some cases by more than 400% on the previous five weeks, Nielsen BookScan figures have shown.

The bestseller was Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence, having shifted 2,542 since the list was announced—an increase of 9.1%. The book also tops the chart for life sales—18,807.

But the biggest uplift in sales came from Linda Grant's The Clothes on Their Backs, which has sold 627 copies since 29th July, up 422% on the five previous weeks' sales. Meanwhile, sales of Philip Hensher's The Northern Clemency and Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole rose by 286% and 198% respectively.

Combined sales of the 13 since the announcement  are 13,849—an increase of 79% on the previous five weeks. Lennie Goodings, publisher of Grant's book at Virago, said she was pleased with the boost in sales and was anxiously anticipating news of the shortlist. "The reduction of the longlist number to 13 has had an effect, although we have had books on it before and you definitely see an uplift," she said.

"We have always found it useful—fantastic, in fact—both in reputation and sales terms. But we are watching it quite carefully this year because of the shorter list."

Despite the boost to longlist sales, Helen Garner's The Spare Room, which sparked controversy when it missed out on selection for the list, has seen sales decline by some 21%.

Caroline Horn Home News Man Booker