With all four categories posting modest increases, unit sales of print books rose 3% in the week ended Aug. 26, 2018, over the comparable week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The juvenile fiction category had the largest gain, with units up 5% over the week ended Aug. 27, 2017. The increase was driven by the release of the movie All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which is based on the book of same name written by Jenny Han. The tie-in edition to the film sold almost 17,000 copies in the week, making it the #1 seller in the category, while the original book sold more than 12,000, putting it in third place on the category list. Two more Han titles also racked up higher sales: Always and Forever, Lara Jean sold almost 8,000 copies, and P.S. I Still Love You sold more than 5,000 copies. Both adult nonfiction and juvenile nonfiction had unit increases of 3% over 2017. The gain in adult nonfiction was due in part to strong sales of Jordan Paterson’s 12 Rules for Life, which jumped into third place on the category bestseller list, selling more than 16,000 copies. The book has sold nearly 532,000 print copies since its release in early 2018. Adult fiction sales increased 2% over 2017 with author Kevin Kwan placing four titles on the top 10 category bestseller list, led by Crazy Rich Asians, which sold more than 42,000 copies. Three other Kwan titles (including the Crazy Rich Asians movie tie-in) sold a total of about 45,000 copies.
Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel
(in thousands)
Aug. 27, 2017 | Aug. 26, 2018 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 12,504 | 12,869 | 3% | 2% |
Retail & Club | 11,134 | 11,391 | 2% | 2% |
Mass Merch./Others | 1,370 | 1,478 | 8% | 0% |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Category
(in thousands)
Aug. 27, 2017 | Aug. 26, 2018 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Nonfiction | 5,672 | 5,822 | 3% | 4% |
Adult Fiction | 2,593 | 2,635 | 2% | -3% |
Juvenile Nonfiction | 1,019 | 1,053 | 3% | 5% |
Juvenile Fiction | 2,881 | 3,021 | 5% | 2% |
Unit Sales of Print Books by Format
(in thousands)
Aug. 27, 2017 | Aug. 26, 2018 | Chge Week | Chge YTD | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hardcover | 2,882 | 3,058 | 6% | 5% |
Trade Paperback | 7,664 | 7,812 | 2% | 0% |
Mass Market Paperback | 1,045 | 1,054 | 1% | -2% |
Board Books | 542 | 559 | 3% | 8% |
Audio | 57 | 37 | -35% | -30% |
Editor’s note: For the second consecutive week, a particular online retailer could not deliver its sales to BookScan to meet its reporting deadline. BookScan says the missing file has a minimal impact on overall sales.