The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending April 5, 2015

Unit sales of print books skyrocketed in the week ended Apr. 5, 2015, rising 15% over the similar week in 2014, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Sales through both channels were strong, but the mass merchandiser channel had an exceptional week, with units up 38%. The increase was enough to make mass merchandiser sales flat for the first quarter of 2015, compared to 2014, in spite of previously being down. Both juvenile categories had blowout weeks as well, with nonfiction sales jumping 49% over 2014 and fiction increasing 34%. Easter-related books drove the gains in nonfiction, although there was no blockbuster hit. The Story of Easter, by Patricia Pringry, was the top seller in the week, with almost 19,000 print units sold. There were no major new hits in fiction either: John Green’s Paper Towns was still the top-selling title, with more than 26,000 copies sold. The 3% unit increase in adult nonfiction was helped by continued solid sales of Chris Kyle’s American Sniper, which finished atop the adult nonfiction list with more than 23,000 units sold.

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.