Unit sales of print books dropped 16.2% last week compared to the week ended March 6, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The biggest factor in the decline was the surge in demand for Dr. Seuss titles a year ago, following the decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to stop publication of six older Seuss books because they contained racist and insensitive imagery.
The juvenile fiction category had the biggest decline, with sales falling 27%. A year ago, nine Seuss titles were in the top 10 bestsellers in the category, selling a total of about 460,000 copies. The #1 book was Green Eggs and Ham, which sold more than 105,000 copies. Last week, Seuss books were again on top of the category bestseller list thanks to Penguin Random House’s annual promotion, but Green Eggs sold only a relatively low 28,000 copies.
Sales in the juvenile nonfiction category fell 19.6%. The Seuss surge played a small role here, as two editions of Seuss-ims sold a combined 24,000 copies last year. The #1 seller in the category last year was Tish Rabe’s There’s No Place Like Space which sold almost 19,000 copies. The top title last week was Oh Say Can You Say Di-No-Saur? by Bonnie Worth, which sold over 8,000 copies.
The hot adult fiction category also had a down week, with sales declining 4.4%. Four new books were among the top 10 category bestsellers, led by Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia, Vol. 30, which sold almost 29,000 copies, landing it in first place on the category list. In fourth place was Tessa Bailey’s Hook, Line and Sinker, which sold over 20,000 copies.
Adult nonfiction sales declined 12.1% compared to 2021 when Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order was #1 selling over 68,000 copies. Last week Atomic Habits by James Clear was #1, selling almost 29,000 copies; The Whole Body Reset by Stephen Perrine was the category’s top-selling new book, selling more than 26,000 copies.
