Annabel Lyon appears to be Giller favourite according to bookstores

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by: Canadian Press
Date: 11/10/2009 9:31:00 AM ET

TORONTO -- If you put any stock in what bookstores are saying, Vancouver writer Annabel Lyon appears to be the favourite to win the Scotiabank Giller Prize on Tuesday night.

Nicholas Hoare, who has namesake stores in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, says shoppers have overwhelmingly favoured Lyon's novel, "The Golden Mean," since the Giller short list of five titles was announced on Oct. 6.

• Read an excerpt from "The Golden Mean" and all the other nominated books here on CTV.ca
• WATCH the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize LIVE TONIGHT on CTV.ca
• WATCH Arts&Minds 2009 Giller Writers' Circle

Nominated alongside Lyon are Montreal's Colin McAdam and Toronto writers Kim Echlin, Linden MacIntyre and Anne Michaels.

Hoare has stocked up on Lyon's book at his stores, while his inventory levels are much lower for the other novels.

"(My stores) will not sell out of the Giller winner if my horse is the right one to run, but on the other hand, they will be out of it in a hell of a hurry if (one of) the other ones (win)," Hoare said.

"There has not been particularly great excitement on the part of the other four -- although they're obviously very healthy little fellows -- but her book is moving way out."

According to Giller organizers, all of this year's finalists have already benefited from the so-called "Giller Effect," a spike in book sales after being added to the short list.

The finalists had a 941 per cent average increase in sales in the first week after the short list was announced, Giller organizers say, and there's undoubtedly another sales bonanza in store for the winner.

Last year's Giller champ, "Through Black Spruce" by Joseph Boyden, saw its sales increase another 560 per cent in the week following the award ceremony. In 2007, sales of Elizabeth Hay's "Late Nights on Air" jumped about 628 per cent, and Vincent Lam's "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" leapt 464 per cent in 2006, according to BookNet Canada sales data, which tracks inventory from over 1,000 retail stores big and small.

There usually isn't one shortlisted novel that has runaway success this early in the game, Hoare said, making Lyon's sales dominance unusual, especially since the novel's subject matter -- the relationship between Aristotle and the teenaged Alexander, before he was Great -- may sound a bit academic to some.

"Frankly, the notion of reading a novel on Aristotle ... would turn most people off," Hoare said, but added that Lyon's additional nominations for the Governor General Literary Award and the Writers' Trust Award are obvious factors in her success.

"But it sure as hell won't turn them off if once, twice, three times very responsible prize givers come out and say, 'This is the best thing since sliced bread.' That is a powerful, powerful effect on the marketplace."

Online retailer abebooks.com hasn't seen a serious jump in sales for any of the short-listers but Lyon is ahead of the competition when it comes to sales of signed copies and first editions.

"What we have seen is a bit of readers looking to snap up signed copies and speculate who they think might win," said spokesman Scott Laming, adding that a signed copy of "The Golden Mean" is going for about $125 while, Michaels's "The Winter Vault" is priced at $105, and Echlin's "The Disappeared" and McAdam's "Fall" go for $70.

A spokesman for Indigo Books & Music Inc., said he couldn't disclose sales figures because the company is publicly traded, but said the Giller Effect is very real and could kick in immediately after the winner is declared.

"We plan the minute after the winner is announced, it creates that much demand," said vice president of procurement Bahram Olfati, who noted that because the award is handed out in Toronto in the eastern time zone, some readers in the West have been known to rush out to bookstores the same night to buy their copy.

"Our order goes into the publisher in tens of thousands of units, probably far more than that, to bring the book in as soon as possible to meet the customer demand."

The Giller award gala will be broadcast live Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo and BookTelevision.