Unit sales of print books began the new year flat with sales in the first week of 2022 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Although it is now 2023, the sales pattern was the same as 2022, with sales increases in fiction offset by declines in nonfiction.
The young adult fiction segment had the biggest increase, with sales up 18.5% over the week ended January 8, 2022. The gain was led by a number of new titles, including The Stolen Heir, the newest book from Holly Jackson, which sold over 29,000 copies in its first week on sale, and Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman, which sold over 17,000 copies.
Adult fiction had another good week, with sales up 12.2% over the week ended January 8, 2022. The Colleen Hoover juggernaut rolled on into 2023, with her novels occupying five of the top six bestsellers in the category, led by It Starts with Us and followed by It Ends with Us, which sold about 62,000 and 55,000 copies, respectively. Danielle Steel's newest title, Without a Trace, sold nearly 18,000 copies in its first week, putting it in ninth place on the category list.
Sales of juvenile fiction were flat in the week. Moon Rising by Tui T. Sutherland remained #1 in its second week, selling almost 22,000 copies.
Nonfiction adult sales fell 8.2% from 2022. Two books on the January 6th report were in the top 10 on the category list, with the HarperCollins edition in second place, selling more than 39,000 copies, and Macmillan’s edition in eighth place, selling more than 12,000 copies. James Clear’s Atomic Habits remained in the top spot, selling over 55,000 copies; a year ago Atomic Habits was also #1, selling about 48,000 copies.
