Punctuation bible revives firm's fortunes

Eats, Shoots And Leaves, the surprise best-seller about punctuation, will double the turnover of its small London publishing house to more than £5.5million this year.

The book has now sold more than 480,000 copies worldwide and is still selling so strongly in hardback that it may be another year before it goes into paperback.

Andrew Franklin, who co-founded Profile Books in 1996, said that before Eats, Shoots And Leaves became a hit he had considered giving up life as a publisher. "But now I don't feel like giving up at all.

"Every week we decide to do a further re-print, I continue to be amazed. I remain completely mystified why the country should have become obsessed with punctuation."