A 17.3% increase in the adult fiction category was not enough to prevent unit sales of print books from falling 4.2% last week compared to the week ended September 24, 2021 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan.
The sales increase in adult fiction was led by a number of new releases, including Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks, which was #1 on the category bestseller list, selling more than 75,000 copies in its first week on sale. Maybe Now, a new book by Colleen Hoover sold over 36,000 copies in its first week, landing it in seventh place on the category list. Four other Hoover titles that made the adult fiction top 10 sold about 155,000 copies.
The only other category to post an increase in the week was the small young adult nonfiction segment, where units rose 5.3%. Scott Cawthon’s The Security Break Files was #1 in the segment, selling about 2,500 copies.
Sales in adult nonfiction dropped 11.2% in the week. Last year at this time Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa was the top-seller in the category, selling more than 192,000 copies in its first week on sale. Last week, the top-selling new book was also about the Trump administration, The Divider by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, which sold over 24,000 copies. Other new releases to hit the category top 10 list were Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Starry Messenger, which sold more than 16,000 copies, and Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, which sold over 15,000 copies.
Children's fiction had another rough sales week, with sales dropping 7.2%. Last year, Change Sings by Amanda Gorman and Loren Long sold more than 157,000 copies in its first week on sale, with Little Blue Truck’s Halloween by Alice Schertle in second place, selling just over 18,000 copies. Last week, Little Blue Truck was the category’s #1 title, once again selling just over 18,000 copies.
