Print Unit Sales Up 4.4% in Mid-September

Two adult fiction hits in the week ended Sept. 14, 2019, led to a 4.4% increase in unit sales of print books over the comparable week in 2018, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood sold more than 111,000 copies in its first week, while Stephen King’s The Institute sold more than 108,000 copies, driving a 6.6% increase in sales in the adult fiction category. Also contributing to the sales increase in the category was Killer Instinct by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, which sold 18,000 copies in its first week. Unit sales of adult nonfiction rose 2.5% over 2018. Six of the top 10 bestsellers in the category were new, led by Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, which sold nearly 66,000 copies in its first week. In third place on the category list was another new release, Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo, which sold more than 21,000 copies. Print unit sales jumped 28% in the young adult nonfiction category over 2018. Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson was #1 in YA, selling more than 2,100 copies in its first week, while Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky was in second place, with more than 1,300 copes sold. Units in the juvenile nonfiction category rose 12% over 2018, with I Am Walt Disney by Brad Meltzer leading the way, selling just over 8,000 copies in its first week. Juvenile fiction sales increased 5.1% over 2018. Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls continued to top the category list, selling more than 52,000 copies in the week.

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