'Milkman' reprint soars to 100,000 after 'phenomenal demand'

Faber has raised its reprint number for Anna Burns' Milkman from 45,000 to 100,000 during the course of today (Wednesday 17th October), following “phenomenal demand way ahead of the initial numbers retailers quoted”, after the novel's Man Booker triumph.

Burns became the first Northern Ireland author to win the £50,000 Man Booker Prize on Tuesday night (16th October) and the following morning Faber revealed a reprint of 45,000 extra copies. Now the publisher has revealed that a further 55,000 copies of the book have been put through, taking the total post-win reprint up to 100,000 altogether.

Between the title's first publication in May and the award reveal on Tuesday night, around 55,000 copies had been published, in hardback and paperback. The paperback release was in September.

Page told The Bookseller: “We had talked to the trade before the announcement [to get a sense of reprint figures] and we had a much bigger response once the prize was announced, than we had expected.”

The novel, about the sexual harassment of a young woman set against a divided society recognisable as Belfast during the Troubles,

to the top of the Amazon chart the morning after its victory, before settling into the number two spot by lunchtime, after The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Zaffre).  Many retailers have praised the “exciting” choice and the accessibility of its paperback edition, though others have voiced reservations about the degree of "challenge" the book poses to readers.

Faber's UK sales director Dave Woodhouse said: “We've had phenomenal demand way ahead of the initial numbers retailers quoted, and overall across all physical editions the total now stands at 155,000 - for now. It seems to have been an unusually popular winner.” Page told The Bookseller: “The original 45k was a holding order pre-prize, but once we it was announced it went a lot further, including local printings in Australia and India for instance.

He added: “We've got 17,000 hardbacks in print, and will reprint a small number (perhaps 3,000) for now but may do more as we run up to Christmas and have a chance to plan with retailers.”

Burns' previous sales history has been limited: Nielsen BookScan's TCM has recorded sales of 13,453 for her earlier novel No Bones, as well as 2,059 for Milkman in hardback, and 3,547 in paperback. Her other novel, Little Constructions (HarperCollins), and the novella, Mostly Hero, have not charted on BookScan.

Of the 2018 finalists, Milkman saw the biggest rise since its shortlisting, The Bookseller revealed earlier this week. As the only title whose paperback has already been released, its sales soared 1,103% in the three weeks since the shortlist announcement in comparison to the preceding three weeks, selling 4,573 copies across editions.

The Belfast-born writer is the seventh of Faber’s authors to win the Man Booker. Of the publisher’s previous Booker-winners, Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (2003) has sold the most at 369,973 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, while Peter Carey’s 2001 book True History of the Kelly Gang has shifted 267,763 copies. Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989) has sold 231,437 since Nielsens’ records began in 1998 – the author’s backlist was also boosted from winning the Nobel prize last October. Meanwhile Carey’s other winning title, Oscar and Lucinda (1988), has sold 61,370 copies and William Golding’s Rites of Passage (1980) has shifted 8,923 copies, all figures according to Nielsen. Meanwhile P H Newby’s Something to Answer For (1969) has not charted on Nielsen.

 In the US, Milkman will be published by Graywolf Press in December.