"breaking dawn" sells over 250,000 copies in first day


Borders Group, Inc. today announced that its approximately 1,000 Borders and Waldenbooks stores throughout the U.S. and its Borders.com site sold more than a quarter million copies of Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn" in total on its first day of sales, Saturday, Aug. 2. The book was so hotly anticipated that the number of pre-orders the retailer received for "Breaking Dawn" was second only in its history to the Harry Potter books.

"Breaking Dawn" is the fourth and final installment in Meyer's "Twilight" saga. It officially went on sale beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and was snapped up by eager fans, hundreds of thousands of whom attended special midnight release parties to get the book the moment it became available. The first-day "Breaking Dawn" sales total is nearly 10 times what the retailer's first-day sales were for "Eclipse," the third book in the series, illustrating the saga's fast-growing popularity.

Borders Group estimates that more than 225,000 fans attended midnight release parties at its Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide that lasted until the early morning hours, where fans of Stephenie Meyer and the popular "Twilight" series participated in costume contests, trivia competitions, debates and a host of other fun activities.

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