Declines in Nonfiction Dropped Print Book Sales Last Week

With sales in nonfiction categories all falling again, unit sales of print books declined 4.9% last week compared to the week ended July 25, 2020, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan.

Three political books were atop the adult nonfiction list, but sales in the segment still fell 12.6%. Last year at this time, Mary Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough was still riding high, selling more than 405,000 copies, and Ben Shapiro’s How to Destroy American in Three Easy Steps sold over 54,000 copies in its first week on sale. Last week, American Marxism by Mark Levin stayed #1 in the category, selling nearly 128,000 copies, while a new book on the Trump administration, I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, sold almost 91,000 copies in its first week on sale. Landslide by Michael Wolff was in third place on the category list, though sales fell from about 25,000 copies in the previous week to roughly 13,000 copies.

There are no signs yet of a turnaround in the juvenile nonfiction category, where unit sales fell 23.3%. Last year at this time, parents were still buying books to educate their children at home, with the #1 book in the category, School Zone Preschool Workbook, selling nearly 33,000 copies. Last week, the same title was #1, but sold 21,000 fewer copies. All the major subcategories in the segment had double-digit declines in the week.

Adult and young adult fiction continued to be bright spots last week. Black Ice by Brad Thor was the top-selling title in adult fiction, selling nearly 27,000 copies in its first week. Daniel Silva’s The Cellist fell from #1 to #2, selling more than 20,000 copies. Unit sales increased 27.5% in young adult fiction as They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera stayed #1, selling nearly 15,000 copies.

Juvenile fiction sales were flat in the week despite two new titles doing well. Wave of the Sea Dragon (Dragon Masters #19) by Tracey West was #1, selling more than 16,000 copies, and Katy Farina’s Katy’s Kittykat Club (Baby-Sitters Little Sister Graphic Novel #4) was in third place, selling just over 14,000 copies.

Last week was the third week in a row unit sales fell compared to 2020, but sales through late July were still 15.9% up over last year at outlets that report to NPD BookScan.