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Bloomsbury has ordered a 35,000-copy reprint of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, which last night scooped the Orange Prize.
The publisher has already ordered the paperback reprint, and is anticipating reprinting again in a couple of days. Editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle said: "We've already had absolutely massive interest from the retailers. It is the popular choice. I expect the sales to be pretty stratospheric."
She added: "It will be even more popular because it is a book that you would give to anybody and everybody—both genders, all ages—it is so beautifully told and the Orange judges, one of them said, 'It's the book that made us all cry'. It's a story so well told."
On the win, Pringle said Bloomsbury staff had been celebrating with Miller this morning over tea and gluten-free cake, and she said: "We are very, very, very happy." She also added she expected the win to boost the title's foreign rights sales. The reprinted titles will carry quotes from the chair of the judges, Joanna Trollope, and the judging panel, as well as existing quotes from Donna Tartt and Bettany Hughes.
The title, Miller's debut, retells the love story of Patroclus and Achilles amid the Trojan war. It is already the bestselling title on the shortlist, selling 13,543 copies through Nielsen BookScan since the shortlist was revealed.
This is the last year the Women's Prize for Fiction will be sponsored by Orange, with a new sponsor currently being sought.