Graywolf Press is feeling the love from Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder, who launched a book club in January, chose the small press' 2014 book On Immunity as the group's latest read. The short work about the anti-vaccination wave, by Eula Biss, is now getting a new printing and a renewed pr push.
Graywolf's Erin Kottke said the house is going back to press for another 5,000 copies; this fifth printing will bring total copies in print to 30,000. While Zuckerberg's book club has produced nominal sales bumps for previous selections, especially given the short two-week window which group has to read a title, Graywolf is working quickly to maximize the attention.
The indie press has, among other things, sent its sales reps back to accounts to check-in and potentially restock the title. Kottke said she has also reached out to TV and print outlets, that have not yet covered the book, "to drum up interest there."
Though official sales numbers on the title are not yet available, Kottke said that since Zuckerberg's announcement the book jumped from a ranking on Amazon around 7,000 in overall books, to somewhere in the 500's. Kottke also hopes that Biss may see more traction from the Zuckerberg pick than previous authors, in part because the choice touches on a hot-button issue in the U.S. right now.
"Since this selection is being seen as 'controversial' by some, given that Zuckerberg is taking a firm stance on vaccination by choosing Eula's book, we're hopeful that people will pick up a copy so they can weigh in for themselves," Kottke said.
