Whitcoulls branches in Dunedin and Queenstown had run out of Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury when they were contacted on Thursday and were waiting for new stock.
University Book Shop general manager Phillippa Duffy said the store would not receive its first copies of the book until Wednesday at the earliest.
She declined to say how many pre-orders had been made, but it was not as many as for New Zealand journalist Nicky Hager’s political books.
"We are frustrated we don’t have supply of it and we have scrambled as fast as we can to get it.
"The interest isn’t huge, but our dedicated politicos have been in and ordered it."
She said "hype" around the book would probably "peak and explode" before it was readily available.
Distribution to New Zealand was slower than other countries, but she noted bookshops in the United States were struggling to keep up with demand.
