Will Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' Surpass 'The Da Vinci Code?'

Sept. 15, 2009 — -- Dan Brown fans don't know much about his long-awaited new novel "The Lost Symbol," other than they can't wait to get their hands on it.

Today the book will finally be available in stores and as e-books online. Details about the novel by the author of the blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code" have been spare since April when The Knopf Doubleday Group, a division of Random House, Inc., announced its release.

In an interview this morning on NBC's "Today Show," Brown told Matt Lauer that "The Da Vinci Code" is a tough act to follow.

"There's plenty of pressure," Brown said. "You're following up 'The Da Vinci Code.' You want to make sure you hit it out of the park."

The book, which took six years to complete, took Brown to Washington D.C., often undercover, to do research.

"I've gone to D.C. many times and taken tours, just regular tours, with a baseball cap on and just let that sort of be my first experience," Brown said. "And, then, I may decide, you know, I can set a scene here."

Brown said he does his best work at 4 a.m. and if he's suffering from writer's block, will put on gravity boots like Richard Gere wore in the movie "Gigilo" and hang upside down.

"The boots are a trick because not only do they increase circulation in your head, but you think differently upside down," he said.

And up until yesterday, when reviews of the strictly-embargoed book appeared in The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, the veil of secrecy cast on "The Lost Symbol" appeared airtight, because it seemed impossible to get anywhere near the estimated five million copies that have been printed so far.

Book dealers worldwide have been protecting the novel with high-level security last seen during the release of the latest Harry Potter installment.

Amazon's chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, wrote in a letter to customers that the yet-to-be-released books were being kept under "24-hour guard in its own chain-link enclosure, with two locks requiring two separate people for entry."

Patricia Bostelman, the vice president of marketing for Barnes and Noble, told ABCNews.com that the company's employees have been made "very clear of the security on the title."

"Throughout our supply train and our distribution chain we have very, very clearly articulated the procedure for keeping them secured until the moment we're allowed to release them," said Bostelman, who declined to elaborate on the company's security measures.