Bookshop inundated with £1,000 worth of orders after tweet about not selling 'a single book' goes viral

'Book-lovers are a very special people, and everyone has been so supportive' says owner

A book shop has been inundated with orders after it revealed it had failed to sell a single book in a day for the first time in 100 years.

A picture of Petersfield Bookshop, which sells antiquarian, second-hand and new books, was shared thousands of times on Twitter after a quiet day at the store meant nothing had been sold.

The tweet, posted by Robert Sansom, who has worked at the shop for 13 years, read: “…Tumbleweed… Not a single book sold today… £0.00… We think this may be the first time ever…

“We know its miserable out but if you’d like to help us out, please find our Abebooks offering below, all at 25% off at the moment….”

The message was retweeted by thousands of book lovers, including fantasy and science fiction author Neil Gaiman, who shared the post with his 2.8m followers.

Overnight the store had received more than 300 messages enquiring after books, as well as over £1,000 worth of online orders.

Meanwhile, its initial tweet garnered more than 8,000 retweets and 16,000 likes.

Following the success, the shop sent out an additional tweet, which read: “What a night! We have been completely overwhelmed in a good way.

“We have 1,100 new followers. We have loads of online book orders. We have over 300 messages, many asking after books. We will answer all as soon as we can, please bear with us. Thank you all so much!”

Managing director John Westwood told the PA news agency: “This store, in its current site, was opened by my dad in 1958, and it’s his legacy.

“I believe in this industry, but online ordering and Amazon has hit us hard. I’ve had to sell my flat to keep the store afloat, and most evenings sleep on a camp bed in the shop.

“We have lots of big plans for the future, on how to expand and grow, we just need to get there first.”

Westwood added that the response has been “overwhelming, mind-blowing and very humbling”.

“Book-lovers are a very special people, and everyone has been so supportive,” he said.

“Books are special things and nothing beats going into a bookstore. Seeing them, touching them, smelling them — it is a special place."