The death of Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, on July 2, has resulted in increased demand for Night, the author's memoir about being a prisoner at Auschwitz. The e-book edition of the title cracked the top five in the iBooks Bestseller list for the week ended July 3, while the print edition has also seen a jump in sales.
The print edition of Night has sold more than 100,000 print copies since the beginning of the year, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 80% of print sales. Jeff Seroy, senior v-p of marketing and publicity at the book's publisher, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, confirmed that the house has seen a significant spike in sales of Wiesel's backlist rising since his death.
BookScan reports that 17,834 copies of Night were sold in paperback last week, compared to 5,080 copies two weeks ago. Hardcover sales of Night spiked last week as well, with 628 copies sold compared to 78 the week before. The Night trilogy, containing Night and its two companion novels, Dawn and Day, sold 994 copies last week compared to 302 the week before. Dawn and Day both saw individual book sales spikes, with 541 and 278 copies sold respectively last week, compared to 144 and 39 the week before.
Since Night is a steady backlist seller, Seroy said, FSG had plenty of stock on hand and has no immediate plans to go back to press in paperback. The book—classified alternately as a novel, autobiography, autobiographical novel and a memoir—is a popular staple on high school reading lists. The publisher has preprinted the hardcover edition of Night, and has also seen re-order jump on the book.
The story has been updated to reflect new information.
