Print Book Sales Dropped 3.8% Last Week

Unit sales of print books fell 3.8% last week compared to the week ended July 16, 2022, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. Sales were down in all segments, with the biggest declines coming in the four children’s categories. Even sales in adult fiction fell, though sales remained up for the year to date.

Sales in adult fiction were down 2% in the week despite a strong showing for books by Ana Huang. Her new release, Twisted Lies, sold over 25,000 copies in its first week on sale, putting it in eighth place on the category bestseller list. Three other Huang titles finished higher up on the list, and the four books sold approximately 126,000 copies combinedr. The number one seller in the category was Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, which sold nearly 43,000 copies.

The adult nonfiction category continued its mild comeback, with sales down a modest 2.2%. Three new books helped to prevent a bigger decline, led by Beyond the Story by BTS, which sold nearly 108,000 copies, easily making it the top-selling title in the category. In the third spot was Dark Future by Glenn Beck, which sold just under 24,000 copies. A third new title, The Warrior Poet Way by John Lovell, was in the ninth spot, selling just over 10,000 copies.

Juvenile fiction sales dropped 6.2%. The best performing new title was Bluey and Bingo’s Fancy Restaurant Cookbook, which sold over 15,000 copies, putting it in second place on the category chart. Juvenile nonfiction sales declined 8.1%. Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography by Wendy Loggia, maintained its hold on the top spot in the category, selling about 9,500 copies.

Sales fell 9.6% in the young adult segment, as the category is still dealing with comparisons to Jenny Han, who had the first five books on the category list last year due to the popularity of the Prime Video series The Summer I Turned Pretty, which is based on her novel of the same name and its sequels. The five books sold a total of about 111,000 copies last year at this time, while the top five titles last week sold 89,000 copies.