The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending October 18, 2015

Unit sales of print books rose 1% in the week ended Oct. 18, 2015, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The increase was driven entirely by sales through the retail and club channel, which offset a 17% drop in units to mass merchandisers. The juvenile nonfiction category had the best performance in the week, with units up 10%. The gain in the category was led by a new title, The Amazing Book is Not on Fire by YouTube celebrities Dan Howell and Phil Lester, which sold almost 57,000 copies in its first week, easily outdistancing Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford, which sold more than 13,000 copies and was in second place on the juvenile nonfiction list. Units in adult nonfiction increased 3% in the week over 2014. Killing Reagan by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard stayed at #1 on the adult nonfiction list, selling 61,000 copies, while Humans of New York: Stories by Brandon Stanton debuted in second place, selling more than 51,000 copies. Units slipped in adult fiction, down less than 1% in the week compared to 2014. The decline came despite a strong showing for See Me by Nicholas Sparks, which sold more than 85,000 print copies in its first week on sale.

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.