Dan Brown novel is a symbol of Amazon’s faith in e-books

12 April 2012

An electronic version of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol is outselling hardback copies of the book on Amazon.com.

The edition for the Kindle e-reader, developed by Amazon, has led the website's chart since it came out on Tuesday — selling 10 times more than other e-releases.

Amazon.com spokesman Andrew Herdener said: "The big surprise was that, despite sustained, strong physical books sales, we saw the Kindle edition outsell hardcover editions on the book's release day."

The e-reader edition of Brown's first book since The Da Vinci Code in 2003 is available for £6.04, while Amazon has hardbacks for £9.77.

The fact that buying the e-version means no wait for delivery is believed to be behind its popularity.

A further 500,000 hardback copies of the novel about a freemasonry conspiracy have been ordered, taking the print run to 5.6 million.

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