The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending October 23, 2016

Unit sales of print books fell 1% in the week ended Oct. 23, 2016, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The only segment that had a gain in the week was juvenile fiction, where print units rose 1% over the week ended Oct. 25, 2015. There was little movement atop the segment’s bestseller list, with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 2 by Rick Riordan remaining in the first and second spots, selling about 31,000 and 17,000 copies, respectively, in the week. Unit sales slipped less than 1% in adult nonfiction. The segment had the week’s big book, with The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines selling more than 121,000 copies. In its first week, the book easily outdistanced Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, which sold about 46,000 copies, putting it in second place on the adult nonfiction list. Print unit sales dropped 3% in the adult fiction segment in the week. A year ago, John Grisham’s Rogue Lawyer sold more than 118,000 copies in its first week, landing it in the top spot on the segment’s bestseller list. For the week ended Oct. 23, 2016, the #1 book was the trade paperback edition of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, which sold more than 36,000 copies. The top-selling new title was Escape Clause by John Sandford, which sold approximately 30,000 print copies, landing it in third place on the category bestseller list. With no major new release, units fell 5% in juvenile nonfiction in the week. The Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook remained in first place on the segment bestseller list, selling more than 9,300 copies.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

*Totals for 2016 include units sold through Family Christian Stores. No sales through Family Christian are included in 2015.