Unit sales of print books declined 5% in the week ended Jan. 8, 2017, compared to the similar week in 2016, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The slow start to the year reflects declines in all four major categories, as well as sales dropping in both the retail and club and mass merchandisers channels. The biggest decline was in juvenile nonfiction, where units dropped 12% from the week ended Jan. 10, 2016. In the first week of last year, two Johanna Basford adult coloring books were in the second and third places on the juvenile nonfiction bestsellers list, selling a combined 30,000 copies. (In first place was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Visual Dictionary by Pablo Hidalgo, which sold more than 17,000 copies). The top-selling title in the category in the first week of 2017 was First 100 Words by Roger Priddy, which sold more than 7,000 copies. Print units of adult nonfiction fell 7%. Oprah Winfrey’s new book, Food, Health, and Happiness, debuted at #1 on the adult nonfiction list, selling more than 41,000 copies. Print units in juvenile fiction fell 5% in the week. The top 100 titles in juvenile fiction in the first week of 2017 sold a total of 368,000 copies, a 20% decline from the same week in 2016. The adult fiction category had the smallest unit decline in the week, with units off 3% compared to a year ago. A new Danielle Steel book, The Mistress, was #1 in the week, selling more than 25,000 copies. The new year also brought two new categories to the BookScan list: young adult fiction and young adult nonfiction. But because there are no comparisons available with 2016, the YA totals are combined with the overall juvenile fiction and juvenile nonfiction segments.
Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel (in thousands)
| Jan. 10, 2016 | Jan 8, 2017 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 13,022 | 12,355 | -5% | -5% |
| Mass Merch./Other | 1,521 | 1,412 | -7% | -7% |
| Retail & Club | 11,502 | 10,943 | -5% | -5% |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Category (in thousands)
| Jan. 10, 2016 | Jan 8, 2017 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Nonfiction | 6,099 | 5,671 | -7% | -7% |
| Adult Fiction | 2,700 | 2,630 | -3% | -3% |
| Juvenile Nonfiction | 841 | 736 | -12% | -12% |
| Juvenile Fiction | 2,519 | 2,383 | -5% | -5% |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Format (in thousands)
| Jan. 10, 2016 | Jan 8, 2017 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 3,184 | 3,173 | -0.3% | -0.3% |
| Trade Paperback | 7,376 | 6,774 | -8% | -8% |
| Mass Market Paperback | 1,239 | 1,090 | -12% | -12% |
| Board Books | 423 | 425 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Audio | 68 | 61 | -10% | -10% |
Source: Nielsen BookScan and Publishers Weekly. Nielsen BookScan’s U.S. Consumer Market Panel covers approximately 80% of the print book market and continues to grow.
