The cover of "Steve Jobs," by Walter Isaacson, to be published later this month by Simon & Schuster.

Story highlights

Publication date of a Steve Jobs biography is being moved up a month, to October 24

The book, "Steve Jobs," rocketed from 437 to No. 1 on Amazon's bestseller list

The Walter Isaacson book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs

Jobs' death on Wednesday prompted the increased interest

CNN  — 

Apple fans won’t have to wait as long to read the authorized story of Steve Jobs’ life.

Responding to a rush of interest following Wednesday’s death of the Apple co-founder, Simon & Schuster announced it’s moving up the publication date of its Steve Jobs biography from November 21 to October 24.

The book by Walter Isaacson, titled simply, “Steve Jobs,” rocketed from 437 to No. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller list – a spike of 43,000% – in the hours after Jobs’ death, thanks to pre-orders. It was No. 3 Thursday on Barnes & Noble’s website, and also topped the list of bestselling books in Apple’s own iTunes store.

In its blurb for the book, Simon & Schuster promises “a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.”

The book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years, as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues.

Simon & Schuster claims that although Jobs cooperated with the book, he asked for no control over what was written nor the right to read it before it was published.

Isaacson, a former chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time magazine, which shares a parent company with CNN, has written biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger.

The 656-page Jobs book retails for $35, although online booksellers on Thursday were pricing it about half that.

Interest in Apple’s iconic former leader also boosted online sales of a handful of other Jobs-related books, including “I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words,” by George Beahm, and “Inside Steve’s Brain,” by Leander Kahney.