Copies of Harper Lee's new novel Go Set a Watchman were said to be "flying out the door" on Tuesday as bookshops reported steady sales throughout the day.

Stephen Boylan, book buyer at Eason, which is also a wholesale supplier of books to other shops, said there were no figures available last night but that they were expected to be “quite strong”.

“We don’t have any figures yet, but what we’re hearing from shops anecdotally is that it’s going well and there is a good bit of interest in it so far,” he said.

"When the book was announced, we saw an upturn in sales for To Kill a Mockingbird, and the last couple of weeks have been the same as well. We're expecting the figures to be quite strong. What we've heard so far is it's been busy enough."

At Hodges Figgis on Dawson St in Dublin, bookshop manager Liam Donnelly said the store would not be releasing figures due to commercial sensitivity, but added it was “flying out the door”.

Bestseller

“It is selling very well,” he said. “It will be the number one bestselling book worldwide by the end of the week. We’ve had a good few hundred pre-orders as well as people coming in off the street to buy it. It’s been pretty consistent all day today also.”

While there were reports of queues overnight in some regions, Mr Donnelly said approximately 60 people attended the shop when it opened for half an hour after midnight to cater for demand.

Caoilfhionn Fay, stock manger with Dubray Books, which has eight shops nationwide, said that there had been “great excitement” from customers who arrived at stores from 9am to purchase copies of the newly published novel.