More Fiction Softness Leads To Dip in Units in Late June

Gains in the adult and juvenile nonfiction segments were not enough to counter declines in fiction in the week ended June 24, 2018, and, as a result, unit sales of print books fell 1% compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. In adult fiction, unit sales dropped 4% compared to the week ended June 25, 2017; the overall decline in the segment exactly matched the drop in sales of the top 100 bestselling adult fiction titles, which also fell 4% in the week. The #1 adult fiction title was once again The President Is Missing by Bill

Clinton and James Patterson, which sold more than 60,000 copies. Elin Hilderbrand’s newest book, The Perfect Couple, landed in second place on the category list, selling almost 33,000 copies. Unit sales in juvenile fiction declined 3% in the week as the top 100 titles in both young adult and juvenile combined to sell 18% fewer copies than last year. The juvenile list did, however, have a new #1 seller: PopularMMOs Presents A Hole New World by PopularMMOs and Dani Jones. A new book topped the adult nonfiction charts, leading to a 2% increase in unit sales in the category. The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia sold more than 24,000 in its first week, beating out Joanna Gaines’s Magnolia Table for #1 on the adult nonfiction chart. Unit sales of print books rose 4% in the juvenile nonfiction category over 2017. With the exception of First 100 Words, the top 10 bestsellers in the category were all education-related books. At #1 on the list was Everything You Need to Know to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook, which sold more than 10,000 copies in the week.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel (in thousands)

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category (in thousands)

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format (in thousands)