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The smaller publishers whose titles have been selected for the Man Booker longlist, including Seren Books, Sandstone Press and Oneworld, are preparing to reprint the titles and release digital versions to meet the anticipated increased demand.
Seren Books publisher Mick Felton, whose title The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness made the longlist, said he couldn't comment on print runs as they are "fairly modest", but said: "We're hoping it will be a big boost to sales." In terms of making the title available as an e-book, he added: "We're looking into it - we are with Faber Factory so they are going to be getting busy on our behalf."
Felton added it has had interest from the US and Holland already for foreign rights, and said the publisher was at the moment planning to publish McGuinness next in their psychogeography series Real in 2013. He is also working on a collection of poetry for Carcanet Press.
At Oneworld, publisher of Yvette Edwards' A Cupboard Full of Coats, the initial UK print run was 6,000, with a reprint now under discussion. The mass-market paperback was due to be published in September, but this may now be moved forward. The e-book edition is already under production and “should be out in a few weeks”.
Meanwhile, m.d. of Scottish publisher Sandstone Press Robert Davidson, which publishes Jane Rogers' The Testament of Jessie Lamb, said: "We are delighted." The initial print run of the title was 3,000, but he said: "We've seen an immediate surge in sales this afternoon. We will be thinking of a reprint next week. I've only known about this for a couple of hours!"
He said Waterstone's has now taken it on as a UK-wide 3-for-2 title, the first time the chain has put a Sandstone Press title into a UK promotion. The publisher is also working on releasing the title as an e-book within three weeks, with interest having "risen off the dial". Davidson said: "Amazon called me to ask me when it would be published as an e-book. That doesn't happen everyday." He added the publisher did not "yet" have any other titles signed by Rogers.