Story collection soars after Fry Tweet
11.09.09 Catherine Neilan in The Bokseller

A book of short stories has leaped up Amazon's book charts to become second only to Dan Brown after Stephen Fry endorsed it on his Twitter feed.
Early today (10th September), the actor told his near-750,000 followers: "You will not read a more dazzling book this year than David Eagleman's Sum. If you read it and aren't enchanted I will eat 40 hats."

The book subsequently rose by nearly 250,000% in the Movers & Shakers list.
Coincidentally, the author was also interviewed on "The Today Programme" this morning. However, Canongate publisher Jamie Byng said he thought it was the new medium that had propelled the book up the charts.

"'The Today Programme' is great, and can have an incredibly beneficial effect on books . . . there's no question it's fuelling it somewhat. But what has really done it, without a doubt, is Stephen's tweeting completely from the heart."
He added: "Sum's had great [print] reviews, but none of them have even had a fraction of the effect to what Stephen Fry did, even if you took all of them together . . . This is a lesson in how you can publish a book in a less conventional way, and suddenly it's paying dividends."

A further print run has been confirmed to meet renewed retailer demand, making 20,000 in print by the end of the month.

Although Canongate has admittedly "dribbled the book out", Byng has high expectations for the book, which had sold 3,091 copies to 5th September, according to BookScan.
He is putting together a compilation of readings by some of Canongate's existing authors and friends such as Nick Cave, "The Wire" actor Dominic West and Fry himself, creating an audiobook that can also be sold on iTunes as "singles" of two individual stories a time. Byng said he was considering making a "Perfect Day"-style mix, with each narrator reading one sentence from the first story.

Eagleman is set to appear at a "celebrity-packed event" at the Southbank Centre on 12th November. Philip Pullman, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave and Miranda Richardson will appear reading stories from the book. The £15 ticket includes a copy, and Byng said he was considering "some very cool giveaways" for the attendees.
It has already been the centrepiece in an event at the Sydney Opera House in June, curated by Brian Eno, in which several of the ‘Sums’ were set to an original score by the musician. It has not yet been decided whether this will be included on the audiobook.

....... a review from The Guardian.