The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending April 6, 2014

Unit sales of print books rose 10% in week 14 of 2014, compared to the week ended Apr. 7, 2013, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The gain marks a strong rebound from the previous week, when units fell 14% due to unfavorable comparisons to Easter week in 2013. The improvement in week 14 was driven by a 74% increase in year-over-year sales in the board book format. Sales of Easter-related titles led the board book gains, especially in nonfiction, where unit sales of The Story of Easter rose 36% over the previous week, to about 7,800 copies, making it the top-selling board book at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Units of Easter Bunny and Easter rose 24% and 20%, respectively, over week 13. In addition to hot-selling board books, the juvenile nonfiction category benefited from two strong-selling new releases: The Last Days of Jesus sold almost 16,000 hardcover copies in the week, while another Minecraft title sold nearly 15,000 copies in a $7.99 hardcover edition. Adult nonfiction gained from the release of Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys, which sold over 55,000 copies in its first week on sale, at outlets that report to BookScan.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

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.