Booker prize brings glory -- but what about sales?

Margaret Atwood may have won the Booker Prize for "The Blind Assassin," but the award failed to substantially improve sales of the book right away

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood may have clinched Britain's coveted Booker prize, but the top literary honor did not immediately translate into sales on Wednesday.

The British literary award, worth 21,000 pounds ($29,900), usually propels authors up bestseller lists around the world.

But the day after the victory by Atwood, one of the best-known writers to win the top prize, booksellers gave a lukewarm verdict on sales of "The Blind Assassin."

"We haven't sold any yet. We bought extra copies in just to be on the safe side, thinking we'd be flooded with customers," said a saleswoman in Foyle's, a central London bookstore.

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The largest bookstore in Oxford was also unenthusiastic. "I don't think there's been a mad rush. We've sold a few more than yesterday," a saleswoman at Blackwell booksellers said.

The bookstore chain WHSmith slashed 30 percent off the winning novel's 16.99 pound ($24.19) price tag, and offered a 20 percent reduction on other shortlisted books.

One of eight bookstores polled by Reuters reported a significant rise in sales.

Atwood's British publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, said in a statement: "The Booker prize is widely regarded as the most influential literary prize in the UK and the one which has the greatest impact on sales."

Atwood beat more than 120 entries from Britain, Ireland and members of the Commonwealth to take the prize.

A Bloomsbury spokesman said the problem was that Atwood -- who had made it onto the shortlist three times before -- was already so popular that her book was unlikely to benefit from the prize as had works by less well-known authors.

"Obviously the Booker makes a difference. I think it will definitely help sales. But Margaret Atwood already had a big following, so with the other books on the list the effect would probably have been bigger," he said.

Even lesser known books on this year's shortlist failed to profit from the "Booker Effect" -- the supposed boost to sales that comes as the contest warms up.

Irish author Michael Collins managed to offload just 370 copies of his book "The Keepers of Truth," up from 184 before he was shortlisted.

Japanese-born writer Kazuo Ishiguro, who won the Booker in 1989 with the internationally acclaimed "The Remains of The Day," saw this year's nomination boost his sales by 1,000.

"The Blind Assassin," Atwood's 10th novel, is published in the United States by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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