Peter Jackson's movie plans send book sales soaring

Obviously the next best thing to getting a plug on Oprah's Book Club is having Peter Jackson announce he wants to make your book his next movie project.

Sales of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones have exploded since the local director confirmed it will be next on his filming agenda.

"We've increased our sales by 400 per cent," Whitcoulls book promotions manager Dorothy Vinicombe said.

"We probably could have sold much more but we couldn't get the stock in. The publishers must have been frantic."

She expected sales of the book, which is No 21 on their "Top 100" list of books recommended by customers, would continue to soar.

Paper Plus in Wellington's Lambton Square sold out the day Jackson's plans became public, said owner Amit Jivand.

"Put it this way, we didn't sell any copies in December and this month we've already sold seven."

Unity books staff member Anna Livesey said it also sold out after the story broke.

Since then, sales had "more than doubled". There was also strong interest in Sebold's memoirs Lucky -- her only other published book, which details how she was brutally raped as a teenager.

Macmillan Publishers promotions manager Emma Clarke said demand from local sellers had doubled.

In a recent interview with a Lord of the Rings fan magazine, Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens confirmed they would turn their attention to the 1992 bestseller by the Los Angeles-based author after they finished making King Kong.

The story is narrated from the point of view of a 14-year-old girl who watches from heaven as her family copes with her rape and murder. She is also able to observe the man who killed her and the path his life takes.

- NZPA