With Most Segments Down, Units Dipped in Mid-October

Unit sales of print books fell 2.9% in the week ended Oct. 13, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Only the adult nonfiction category managed to post a sales increase over the week ended Oct. 14, 2017. Four of the top six books in the category were new, led by Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead, which was the top title in adult nonfiction, selling almost 64,000 copies. At #3 on the category list was Killing the SS by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, which sold nearly 54,000 copies. In fifth and sixth place in their first weeks were Gina Homolka’s Skinnytaste One and Done, which sold more than 40,000 copies, and Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss, which sold more than 30,000 copies. Adult fiction had another large sales decline, with units down 5.7% from 2017. Last year at this time, Dan Brown’s Origin sold about 88,000 copies in its second week on sale, making it #1 in adult fiction. In the most recent week, six of the top 10 bestselling adult fiction titles were new. Mitch Albom’s The Next Person You Meet in Heaven edged out John Sandford’s Holy Ghost for the top spot on the category list, selling 30,761 and 30,336 copies, respectively. Print unit sales dropped 5.7% in juvenile fiction compared to a year ago. The decline came despite The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith having another impressive week, selling more than 57,000 copies. In young adult fiction, units declined 13.8% as the category faced tough comparisons to last year, when two editions of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green combined to sell about 130,000 copies.

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