The year began on a positive note, with sales of print units rising 2.5% in the week ended Jan. 11, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The adult fiction category had the strongest week, with unit sales up 4.4% over the week ended Jan. 12, 2019. While Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens remained #1 in the category, selling more than 29,000 copies, three new titles also contributed to gains in the segment. Moral Compass by Danielle Steel landed in third place on the category list, selling more than 16,000 copies. Following Steel were Ann Napolitano’s Dear Edward, which sold more than 15,000 copies, and Diana Palmer’s Long, Tall Texans, which sold nearly 12,000 copies. The 2% increase in print unit sales over 2019 in adult nonfiction was led by You Were Born for This by Chani Nicholas, which sold more than 14,000 copies in its first week. Another new release, Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield, was #5 in the category, selling almost 12,000 copies. Guts by
Raina Telgemeier continued its hold of the #1 spot on the juvenile nonfiction bestseller list, selling more than 7,000 copies. Guts has been #1 in the category every week but one since it was published on Sept. 9, 2019. Juvenile fiction unit sales rose 2.5% over last year. The top-selling new release was FGTEEV Presents: Into the Game, which sold more than 14,000 copies in its first week, landing it in third place on the category list. In terms of formats, the new year did not bring a change in fortune for mass market paperbacks, where sales fell 8.8% compared to 2019. We have stopped reporting on sales of physical audio, since it is unlikely that its sales decline will be reversed any time soon.