The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending February 1, 2015

Unit sales of print books rose 5% in the week ended Feb. 1, 2015, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Units have risen every week this year over the comparable weeks in 2014, and for the first five weeks of 2015 they were up 4%. The nonfiction categories led the gains in week five, with adult nonfiction sales up 8% and juvenile nonfiction up 12%. In adult, three editions of Chris Kyle’s American Sniper took the top three spots once again, followed by two editions of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. The top-selling debut in the week was Zillow Talk by Spencer Rascoff, which landed at #6, selling almost 14,000 copies. The top five bestsellers in juvenile nonfiction included four Minecraft titles and Unbroken at #3. Unit sales in adult fiction increased 4% in week five, compared to the week ended Feb. 2, 2014, and there were a number of new titles on the list. Seven of the bestselling books in the category made their debut in the week, led by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro’s Private Vegas, which sold about 35,000 copies and trailed only Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins on the fiction list. Patterson also had one of the top new juvenile fiction sellers in the week with I Totally Funniest, which sold more than 9,000 copies—good enough for fifth place. Fairest, by Marissa Meyer, was the top-selling debut book on the list and sold more than 11,000 copies. In all, juvenile fiction units rose 3% in the week, compared to week five of 2014.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

Source: Nielsen BookScan and Publishers Weekly. Nielsen BookScan’s U.S. Consumer Market Panel covers approximately 80% of the print book market and continues to grow.