Unit Sales Had Small Gain in Early May, Led by Nonfiction

Unit sales of print books inched up by just under 1% in the week ended May 3, 2019, over the comparable week in 2018, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The nonfiction categories led the gains, and juvenile nonfiction had a particularly good week, with sales up 13.9% over the week ended May 4, 2018. We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines remained in the top spot on the category bestseller list with nearly 8,000 copies sold, and Raina Telgemeier’s Share Your Smile sold more than 7,600 copies in its first week, placing it at #2 on the category list. Adult nonfiction unit sales rose 1.5% over 2018, led by two editions of the Mueller Report. The Skyhorse version was #1 last week, selling more than 39,000 copies, while the Scribner edition was in second place with more than 38,000 copies sold. Following the two editions of the Mueller Report was the newly released Go See the Principal by Gerry Brooks, which sold more than 22,000 copies in its first week. Print unit sales in the juvenile fiction category had a small gain over 2018. Jeff Kinney’s Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid stayed #1 on the category list, with nearly 42,000 copies sold, while Oh! The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss began its usual march up the bestseller list during graduation season, selling almost 39,000 copies in the week ended May 3, 2019—20,000 more than in the prior week. Unit sales of adult fiction declined 2.1% compared to 2018 despite a new top title, The 18th Abduction by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, which sold more than 48,000 copies in its first week.

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