The children's book Go The Fuck To Sleep has sold 100,000 pre-sale copies. Reyhan Harmanci wonders whether leaked electronic copies of the book have boosted sales:
In an age of e-books, piracy has been a rising concern amongst publishers for a few years, although none of the publishers contacted by The Bay Citizen could recall a PDF of a book going viral in the vein of “Go the Fuck to Sleep.” This volume had a few key properties that enabled its electronic popularity: an undeniable title, a good-looking cover and a short length, making it easy to read, post and pass on. Also, the long lag time between the book’s pre-sale (it was originally scheduled to go on sale in October) and the buzz made online sharing necessary.
James Joyner partially agrees:
I wouldn’t imagine that distribution of PDF copies would much harm the sales of any printed book. Where it would become damaging would be digital copies of e-books getting out. What would anyone buy a copy for their Kindle or other e-reader if they can get them for free? The same problem, obviously, has long affected digital music and video sales.
A few sample pages can be seen at Tiny Iron Fists.
The Dish 