‘Fire and Fury’ Sparks Another Week of Sales Gains

With Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury selling more than 324,000 copies in the week ended Jan. 21, 2018, total industry sales were 6% higher than in the comparable week in 2017 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Units in the adult nonfiction segment were 10% higher than in the week ended Jan. 22, 2017, led by the still-climbing sales of Fire; sales of the book jumped 69% from the prior week. Two other Trump-related books that debuted January 16 had respectable showings: It’s Even Worse Than You Think by David Cay Johnston sold more than 10,000 copies, landing in seventh place on the adult nonfiction list, while David Frum’s Trumpocracy sold nearly 7,000 copies, putting it in 17th place on the category list. Unit sales in the juvenile nonfiction segment were up 6% from the comparable week in 2017. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison had a good week of sales, moving up to the #2 spot with slightly more than 6,000 copies sold. Brad Meltzer’s new I Am Harriet Tubman sold nearly 3,000 copies, putting it in 11th place on the juvenile nonfiction list in its first week. A boxed set of the Wrinkle in Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle, first released more than a decade ago, sold almost 7,000 copies, while the paperback edition of A Wrinkle in Time sold more than 21,000 copies, helping to lift unit sales in the juvenile fiction segment 5% from the similar week in 2017. Both books benefitted from promotion for the movie adaptation, which is due to hit screens in early March. Print unit sales in the adult fiction segment were 2% lower. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn moved into first place on the adult bestseller list, selling more than 20,000 copies, beating out Douglas Preston’s City of Endless Night.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel (in thousands)

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category (in thousands)

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format (in thousands)