Unprecedented is the word that's being used to describe the April 30 launch of Jean Auel's fifth volume in the Earth's Children series, The Shelters of Stone. Masterminding a one-day U.S. laydown is a challenging feat; for Auel's book, more than two million copies were released in bookstores all over the world on the same day. (Unprecedented sounds to us like the right word.) Jennifer Weltz, director of rights for the Jean Naggar Agency (Jennifer is the daughter of the very proud Jean) coordinated the global launch and all the events surrounding it, including the international celebration for the book's publication. The worldwide launch included a gathering of journalists and publishers from more than 20 countries who toured, accompanied by Auel, the prehistoric caves in France's Dordogne region that were the inspiration for her book.
Shelters went right to the top of all the national charts in the U.S. According to Crown, sales broke numerous records. Perhaps, but while its first opening week at the three national chains—Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks and Borders—was impressive, with sales topping 97,000, it did not exceed the first-week performance of John Grisham's The Summons at the same outlets: that figure was close to 110,000. Still, sales were excellent, and Crown has already gone back to press for an additional 75,000 copies, after a 1.1-million-copy first printing. First-week sales internationally have also been stellar. Shelters topped the British and French bestseller charts after a week in the stores; in Germany it landed in the #2 spot; many countries, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, have also gone back to press (reports from other countries were not available at press time). Not bad for an author whose last mega-bestseller, The Plains of Passage, was published back in 1990. That book immediately topped the national bestseller charts in nine countries. Auel's books are available in more than 28 foreign editions and have sold more than 34 million copies worldwide.
With reporting by Dick Donahue
