Adult Nonfiction Drives Late July Gains

Strong sales in the adult nonfiction category led to a 2% increase in overall print unit sales in the week ended July 29, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Unit sales in the adult nonfiction category were up 8% over the week ended July 30, 2017, helped by two books aimed at conservatives. The Russia Hoax by Gregg Jarrett sold nearly 73,000 copies in its first week, making it both the top seller in the adult nonfiction category and the top seller overall. Second on the adult nonfiction list was Jeanine Pirro’s Liars, Leakers, and Liberals, which sold more than 36,000 copies in the week. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis continued to do well, selling more than 25,000 copies in the week. Unit sales in juvenile nonfiction fell by less than 1% compared to 2017. It was a good week for Workman and School Zone Publishing: each had four books in the top 10 category bestsellers. School Zone’s Big Pre-school Workbook was #1 on the list, selling nearly 11,000 copies, while Workman’s Everything You Need to Ace Math was second, selling more than 10,000 copies. Print unit sales fell 4% compared to 2017 in both the adult and juvenile fiction segments. In adult fiction, the mass market paperback of Dan Brown’s Origin sold more than 24,000 copies, making it the top title in the category. Overall, the top 100 bestselling adult fiction books sold 12% fewer copies in 2018 than in the comparable week in 2017. There was little movement in the juvenile fiction segment compared to the previous week, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was #1, selling nearly 13,000 copies.

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)