MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
August 7 – 14, 2008 Edition
Stephenie Meyer’s
Breaking Dawn
Hits Record Sales
NEW YORK, NY/8/7/2008–Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, long-awaited final novel in the Twilight Saga series, has already sold an estimated 1.3 million copies on the first day of its release last week. Publisher Hachette/Little Brown Books for Young Readers, said it was a record for any of its first-day book sales. Little Brown is already is printing another 500,000 copies to keep up with demand. Borders reported its 1,000 Borders and Waldenbooks stores throughout the U.S. and the Borders.com website had sold more than a quarter million copies of the book in its first day of total sales on August 2.
Though Breaking Dawn ends the series, Little, Brown will publish The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide in December, including character profile, and genealogical charts, and other new material.
Breaking Dawn was so hotly anticipated that the number of pre-orders the retailer received was second only in its history to the Harry Potter books. Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final installment in Meyer’s Twilight saga. The first-day sales at Borders total is nearly 10 times what the retailer’s first-day sales were for Eclipse, the third book in the series, illustrating the saga’s fast-growing popularity.
Meyer is working on a new book titled Midnight Sun, which tells the story of Twilight, the first book in the series, from vampire Edward’s viewpoint.
Borders Group estimates that more than 225,000 fans attended midnight release parties last week at its Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide that lasted until the early morning hours, where fans of Stephenie Meyer and the popular series participated in costume contests, trivia competitions, debates and a host of other fun activities.
