TORONTO - Gaspereau Press says it hopes to make a decision by the weekend on how to get more copies of Johanna Skibsrud's Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning novel "The Sentimentalists" into bookstores.

The tiny Nova Scotia publishing house has made headlines across the country for being unable to keep up with the high demand for the novel, which won the $50,000 Giller on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, Gaspereau said that despite the Giller win and flood of requests for "The Sentimentalists," it was sticking to its policy of making its hand-crafted books locally with no outsourcing.

But Thursday, Gaspereau co-owner Gary Dunfield said he and fellow publisher Andrew Steeves were considering several options that would allow them to produce the book more quickly.

"There are three or four options and we've got to take a look at them and see which ones work," he said in a phone interview from the Gaspereau office in Kentville, N.S.

"Obviously we can't make these decisions alone, either. We also have to deal with the author."

Gaspereau prides itself on high-quality books and can only print about 1,000 copies of "The Sentimentalists" a week.

Indigo Books & Music has thousands of copies of the book on order, but none on store shelves.

The days and weeks following the Giller usually see a huge boost in sales for the winning book. Indigo has not been told when "The Sentimentalists" will arrive and has suggested that buzz around the book may die down if readers don't get it soon.

Dunfield hopes Skibsrud's book will be in stores by Christmas.

"That would be my hope, yes," he said.

"I would expect that given the nature of this beast, we will make a decision fairly soon."

When asked if he anticipated making a decision by the weekend, he said: "I hope so because you know what? I have lots of other things to do and I need to get on with them."

Skibsrud, who, at age 30 is the youngest Giller winner in the 17-year history of the prize, has expressed concern that readers can't get their hands on physical copies of her debut novel (the electronic version is doing a brisk business).

Dunfield says they've been in touch with Skibsrud via email as she vacations in Istanbul.

"We are listening to her and we're concerned about what she wants," he said.

"I have all sorts of people who are coming up to me and saying, 'If there's anything we can do,' ... I met a whackload of people on Tuesday evening and so everybody's interested in talking but we'll leave it at that."

Published over a year ago, "The Sentimentalists" charts a daughter's quest to learn about her dying father's experiences in the Vietnam War.

Skibsrud, who grew up in Pictou County, N.S., and is based in Montreal, says she mined her own father's experiences in the Vietnam War for the book.

Dunfield says just getting the story out there to thousands of curious readers is "certainly one of the priorities."

"Is it the main priority? What's the main priority? I don't know," he added.