The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending September 4, 2016

Unit sales of print books increased 2% in the week ended Sept. 4, 2016, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Although there were no big debuts in adult nonfiction, that category had the strongest performance, with unit sales up 4% compared to the week ended Sept. 6, 2015. For the third week in a row, Amy Schumer’s The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo was #1 in the category, with more than 24,000 copies sold. J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy had a good week, selling more than 14,000 copies and moving into third place on the adult nonfiction bestseller list. Unit sales rose 2% in juvenile fiction, with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child once again topping the segment’s bestseller list, with more than 117,000 copies sold. A new book, A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir, landed in third place on the juvenile fiction list, selling more than 13,000 copies. The Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook moved into first place on the juvenile nonfiction bestseller list, selling more than 8,600 copies. Total unit sales in the category were up 1% in the week. Two new novels that finished in the second and third spots on the adult fiction bestseller list were not enough to lift sales for the week in that category, which dipped 2%. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny sold almost 30,000 in its first week, edging out Danielle Steel’s Rushing Waters for the second spot on the adult fiction list. The trade paperback of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins remained #1, while two movie tie-in editions of the novel were at #4 and #5.

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.