Happily for Nari Hira, head honcho of Magna Publications, other in Mumbai are not so coy. In the first day of publications Magna has sold five thousand copies of The Ken Starr Report-The Unabridged, Explicit Version of the Clinton-Lewinsky Affair here at Rs 100 apiece.

Explicit, salacious and controversial the report anyway had all the makings of a bestseller. All it needed was a little marketing savvy to profit from an American president's indiscretions.

On a visit to New York last week, Nari Hira spotted the commercial possibilities of the report when he witnessed the furore it's release caused there. ``I immediately realised that our media, as usual, had been more coy thanthe international media, in reporting the entire affair. And let's be honest, the curiosity about the whole issue is at an all-time high,'' says Hira. The first print sold out within hours, and Magna goes into it's second edition of printing tomorrow.

The orders, they say, are overwhelming. Bookstalls had sold out all copies of the book by as early as 5.00 pm, and besieged the publishers with calls for more. Of the largest orders was from Strand Book Shop. After selling out nearly all of their initial 500 copies, they have ordered 2,000 more. And proprietor T N Shanbagh is more than confident that they will be shorn of even those by the end of the week.

``The point is, people's curiosity is peaked, because the issue is so much in focus right now. Magna has done the smart thing by cashing in on this high tide that is largely unleashed by the media,'' he remarked.

Crossword, on the other hand, sees no reason to get excited with their initial 50 copies, some of which are still with them. ``There weresome sales, but I am sure that there will be more publishers coming out with the same thing very soon. As long as the issue is in the news, there will be more copies,'' says Eric Williams, retail manager, Crossword.

Sure enough, Pioneer Book Company, another Mumbai-based firm releases their book on the same, Bill and Monica Uncensored! Sex, Lies And Videotape in Mumbai tomorrow.

As for the buyer profile, it ranges from housewives to executives to students to retired citizens. The reasons for their purchase also varies. If the Hongkongbank executive wanted to ``be on the inside of the titillating details of the hottest affair of the decade,'' people like Rahul Malhotra, a college student, bought it with the sole intention of keeping abreast of the situation. ``I like to know what's going on around me, and I don't have access to the net enable that, especially this particular issue. Besides, it's bound to be exciting reading,'' he laughs.

Released on Monday in New York, a paperback keepsake of thereport was out in the market for around $15 on Thursday.