...Tumbleweed...

Not a single book sold today...

£0.00...

We think think this maybe 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.... pic.twitter.com/Cn5uhYWw88

— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) January 14, 2020

...Tumbleweed...Not a single book sold today...£0.00...We think think this maybe 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.... pic.twitter.com/Cn5uhYWw88

A 100-year-old book store has been given a much-needed boost in business after they made a social media post about their first ever "tumbleweed day" with no customers.

Last week, the historic Petersfield Bookstore of Petersfield, England posted several photos of their empty shop to Twitter, lamenting how "not a single book had been sold" that day.

The heartwrenching tweet spurred dozens of Twitter users to reach out with online book orders and messages of encouragement-but the real support came from a retweet courtesy of famed English novelist and fiction writer Neil Gaiman.

After Gaiman retweeted the photos of the empty book shop, Petersfield was flooded with orders.

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!

— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) January 15, 2020

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 usThank you all so much!

The shop later confessed that the "tumbleweed day" was indicative of a much more bleak sales history. In fact, they had not even been sure the shop would survive the week if the trend continued.

"It is not always easy for a business to admit that it has been so close to the edge, and we don't do it lightly. It was a horrible situation and of course things remain fragile," wrote the shop. "The thought of having to announce the closure of The Petersfield Bookshop was heartbreaking.

Can we just say thank you @neilhimself this is not the day we thought we were going to have but it's been the best. People are kind and that's something to never forget
This is a small portion of the orders we received overnight and today as a result of the Gaiman bump pic.twitter.com/9qxDx7Ct58

— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) January 15, 2020

Can we just say thank you @neilhimself this is not the day we thought we were going to have but it's been the best. People are kind and that's something to never forgetThis is a small portion of the orders we received overnight and today as a result of the Gaiman bump pic.twitter.com/9qxDx7Ct58

"It was nothing short of miraculous this has happened to us in the same week … and we are truly grateful," they continued. "We are trying to think of ways to pay it forward and to use our new found voice with 20k followers to help the book trade in general."

Since the store does not open on Sundays, they now plan on taking to Twitter on their days off to recommend independent publishers, shops, and authors who might deserve the extra social media exposure.

I didn't know this. I'm so glad I helped. https://t.co/SZ0V7IlmU2

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 20, 2020

I didn't know this. I'm so glad I helped. https://t.co/SZ0V7IlmU2

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