The streak of year-over-year unit sales gains hit five in week 32 of 2014. Total unit sales of print books rose 2% in the week ended Aug. 10, 2014, compared to the similar week in 2013 at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. As has been the case during the five-week upward streak, it was the retail & club channel that drove the gain, with units up 3% over week 32 of 2013, offsetting a 4% decline in sales through the mass merchandiser channel. The juvenile fiction category had the largest gain in the week, posting a 14% increase over the week ended Aug. 11, 2013. While no big juvenile fiction titles had a strong debut in the week, a number of titles in the top 10 had notable increases over the prior week including the trade paperback edition of If I Stay, whose sales rose 16% to just under 26,000 copies sold. Insurgent and Divergent had sales increases of 24% and 27%, respectively. The strongest-selling new book in the week was the mass market paperback edition of Sue Grafton’s W Is for Wasted, which sold about 26,000 copies. For the week, the adult fiction category was down 7% compared to week 32 of 2013, a decline that was less than the 11% drop the category has had so far this year.
Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel
Aug. 11, 2013 | Aug. 10, 2014 | % Chge Week | % Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 11,083 | 11,256 | 2% | 1% |
Mass Merch./Other | 2,002 | 1,916 | -4 | -3 |
Retail & Club | 9,081 | 9,339 | 3 | 2 |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Category
Aug. 11, 2013 | Aug. 10, 2014 | % Chge Week | % Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Nonfiction | 4,294 | 4,302 | 0.2% | 0% |
Adult Fiction | 3,037 | 2,826 | -7 | -11 |
Juvenile Nonfiction | 704 | 761 | 8 | 11 |
Juvenile Fiction | 2,575 | 2,945 | 14 | 15 |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Format
Aug. 11, 2013 | Aug. 10, 2014 | % Chge Week | % Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hardcover | 2,384 | 2,439 | 2% | 3% |
Trade Paperback | 6,350 | 6,614 | 4 | 3 |
Mass Market Paperback | 1,667 | 1,487 | -11 | -11 |
Board Books | 335 | 389 | 16 | 17 |
Audio | 90 | 82 | -9 | 5 |
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.