Unit Sales Rose 3% at the End of April

At outlets that report to NPD BookScan, unit sales of print books were 3% higher in the week ended Apr. 30, 2017, than in the similar week in 2016. This was driven by a 9% increase in unit sales in the juvenile fiction category and 4% gains in both the adult and juvenile nonfiction segments. Four books that have been riding high on the juvenile fiction bestseller list continue to sell well: Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why remained the #1 book in the segment, selling about 30,000 copies, and the Netflix tie-in edition sold approximately 15,000 copies. The original and movie tie-in editions of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything together sold 26,000 copies in the week. The 4% unit increase in the juvenile nonfiction segment was driven by well-known books: First 100 Words by Roger Priddy was #1 on the category list, selling almost 7,000 copies, and the Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook was in second place with nearly 6,000 copies sold. The 4% increase in the adult nonfiction category was partly due to a big week of sales for Option B, the newest title by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, cowritten with Adam Grant. Option B was the #1 book, selling more than 102,000 copies in its first week. Two other nonfiction books did well in their first week: The Operator by former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill was #3 on the category list, selling more than 20,000 copies, and The Plant Paradox by Steven Gundry was at #4 with more than 18,000 copies sold. Print unit sales in the adult fiction segment were 3% lower in the week than in the comparable week in 2016. John Sandford’s Golden Prey was the top book on the category list, selling more than 36,000 copies in its debut week.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

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Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

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Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

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