Unit sales of print books fell 4% in the week ended Feb. 5, 2017, compared to the similar week in 2016, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Once again, sales through the mass merchandiser channel were very soft. with units tumbling 20% compared to the week ended Feb. 7, 2016. Sales through the retailer and club channel slipped 1%. The biggest decline among the major categories came in juvenile fiction, where units dropped 7% compared to 2016. The top 10 bestsellers in the category combined to sell about 134,000 copies in the week ended Feb. 7, 2016. In the comparable week this year, the top 10 titles sold approximately 101,000 copies, a decline of 25%. The adult and juvenile nonfiction categories both posted declines of 1%. There was little movement at the top of the adult nonfiction bestseller list. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly remained in first place on the category list, selling more than 22,000 copies, followed by Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, which sold almost 19,000 copies. The biggest change on the juvenile nonfiction bestseller list was the drop of I Got This: To Gold and Beyond by Laurie Hernandez, which fell from #1 to seventh place, selling just over 3,000 copies in the week ended Feb. 5, 2017. Returning to the top spot on the list was First 100 Words by Roger Priddy, which sold more than 8,000 copies. Print units fell 2% in adult fiction in the week, as 1984 by George Orwell and A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman remained in the first and second spots, respectively, on the category list.
Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel
Feb. 7, 2016 | Feb. 5, 2017 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 11,876 | 11,457 | -4% | -1% |
Mass Merch./Other | 1,822 | 1,463 | -20% | -13% |
Retail & Club | 10,054 | 9,995 | -1% | 1% |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Category
Feb. 7, 2016 | Feb. 5, 2017 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Nonfiction | 5,118 | 5,057 | -1% | 0% |
Adult Fiction | 2,432 | 2,380 | -2% | -0.2% |
Juvenile Nonfiction | 908 | 893 | -1% | -2% |
Juvenile Fiction | 2,954 | 2,731 | -7% | -4% |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Format
Feb. 7, 2016 | Feb. 5, 2017 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hardcover | 3,015 | 2,859 | -5% | 0% |
Trade Paperback | 6,725 | 6,570 | -2% | -1% |
Mass Market Paperback | 1,145 | 1,075 | -6% | -8% |
Board Books | 603 | 590 | -2% | 2% |
Audio | 65 | 63 | -3% | -6% |