Little Industry Bounce from 'Symbol'

Speculation that the September 15 release of The Lost Symbol, True Compass and several other big books would provide a boost to total book sales for the week ending September 20 didn't pan out, at least in outlets tracked by Nielsen BookScan. Symbol did provide a jump in sales in the adult fiction and audiobook categories in the week ending September 20 compared to the previous week, but it looks like consumers didn't bother to buy many other books. Sales of adult fiction rose 20.3% the week of September 20, with Symbol accounting for nearly 25% of all units sold in the category through BookScan outlets. Sales of audiobooks rose 19.8% over the prior week, but nonfiction units increased only 0.5%, and juvenile sales fell. Total units rose 5.9% in the week compared to a week earlier (excluding Symbol, units would have been down 1.6%).

Results were about the same when sales were compared to the same week in 2008. Overall units were up 1.7% compared to the same week in 2008. Symbol gave a large, 25%, boost to sales in the adult fiction segment, while adult nonfiction sales inched up 1.3%. Juvenile sales, however, fell rather dramatically, down 12% compared to the same week one year ago when the Stephenie Meyer phenomenon was building. And audiobook sales, even with Symbol sales, dropped 11% compared to one year ago. The decline in audiobook sales likely reflects the shift of consumers to buying audio through digital downloads rather than buying discs; BookScan does not currently track sales of digital products, though it is working to extend its coverage in that area.

Unit Sales