December 09, 2013 - 9:25 AM
TORONTO - Sales of Canadian short story great Alice Munro's books spiked significantly following her Nobel Prize in literature win, both on home soil and internationally.
A new study released by BookNet Canada compared sales data for Munro's hardcover and paperback titles in 10 countries, before and after her Nobel win on Oct. 10.
Canada had the highest increase of 4,424 per cent, a figure likely helped by the Oct. 8 North American release of the paperback edition of her latest book, "Dear Life."
Meanwhile, sales of translated Munro titles increased by 4,213 per cent in Italy and by 1,890 per cent in Spain.
And sales of English-language Munro titles increased by 2,625 in Ireland and 369 per cent in Australia.
Those results came from comparing sales of her titles in the week ending Sept. 21 to the week ending Oct. 19.
Canadian data for the study came from BookNet Canada, a non-profit industry group that tracks sales and inventory across the country.
Nielsen Book provided data for Australia, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.
Munro's daughter Jenny is scheduled to accept the Nobel award on her behalf at a ceremony in Stockholm on Tuesday.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013