The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending September 6, 2015

Unit sales of print books rose 6% in the week ended Aug. 6, 2015, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The two nonfiction segments had big gains in the week, with units in adult nonfiction up 14% and units in juvenile nonfiction ahead 13%. On the adult side, the gain was driven, in part, by Dick Cheney’s Exceptional, which sold just over 14,000 copies in its first week, landing it in fourth spot on the adult nonfiction bestseller list. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo regained the top spot, selling just under 25,000 copies. The increase in juvenile nonfiction sales was led by modest gains among the three top-selling books in the category: Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, both by Johanna Bansford, once again ran one-two, selling 22,000 and 13,000 copies, respectively, in the week; and First 100 Words stayed in third place, selling over 9,600 copies. A good start for The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz helped to lift unit sales in adult fiction by 1% in the week. The novel, which was begun by Stieg Larsson before his death and completed by Lagercrantz, sold more than 53,000 copies in its first week. Another novel that made its debut last week, Purity by Jonathan Franzen, sold more than 26,000 copies, edging out a new Star Wars book—Aftermath by Chuck Wendig—for fourth place on the adult fiction list. Units in juvenile fiction fell 2% compared to last year. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas debuted in second place on the juvenile fiction list, trailing The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, with both books selling just over 18,000 copies.

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.