Unit sales of print books slipped 1.6% last week compared to the week ended January 30, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The sales pattern was a familiar one, with sales in the adult fiction and young adult categories rising and sales in the adult nonfiction and juvenile fiction and nonfiction segments declining.
Through January, total print unit sales fell 5.6% compared to 2021. The decline was expected as the first part of 2021 saw strong sales, with people still in pandemic lockdowns and the arrival of child tax credit checks spurring spending.
The 7% decline in adult nonfiction sales came despite a number of new books doing very well in their first week on sale. Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich by Helping China Win by Peter Schweizer topped the category bestseller list, selling more than 89,000 copies. A new Spanish-language title was #3 on the category list. Emma Y Las Otras Del Narco (Emma and Other Narco Women) by Anabel Hernandez sold almost 26,000 copies in its first week. I’ll Be There (But I Will Be Wearing Sweatpants) by Amy Weatherly was in fourth place, selling over 22,000 copies. Last year at this time, Cicely Tyson’s memoir, Just as I Am, was #1 in the category, selling about 45,000 copies.
Adult fiction unit sales rose 14.9% over 2021, and Colleen Hoover had an even better week than usual on the category bestseller list. Hoover had the top-three selling titles on the adult list (all from different publishers) and had five of the top 10 sellers. Her newest book, Reminders of Him, sold about 33,000 copies, and the five titles altogether sold approximately 112,000 copies. The top-selling new release was Christine Feehan’s Savage Road, which sold almost 14,000 copies.
Juvenile fiction sales dipped 1.6% last week. Little Blue Truck’s Valentine by Alice Schertle was once again #1 in the category, selling just over 32,000 copies. Young adult fiction sales rose 7.2%, with no new titles having a big impact. Scott Cawthon’s The Fourth Closet was #1, selling just under 10,000 copies.
