A host of new releases landing among the top 10 bestsellers last week was not enough to stop the sales erosion of unit sales of print books. At outlets that report sales to Circana BookScan, last week’s sales fell 5.7% compared to a year ago, with every category posting a decline.
The adult nonfiction segment saw the smallest decline, with sales down 4.2%. The category had the week’s number one title, with Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson’s biography of the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter) selling more than 92,000 copies. Seven of the category’s top 10 titles were new, with Build the Life You Want by Arthur C. Brooks at number two, selling over 62,000 copies. Those totals easily beat last year’s top seller, Jeanette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, which sold over 45,000 copies at the time.
Adult fiction sales dropped 6.6%. Holly by Stephen King stayed in first place, selling more than 43,000 copies. The newest Vince Flynn novel Code Red: A Mitch Rapp Novel, by Kyle Mills, was the best performing new release, selling over 23,000 copies. The number one title a year ago was Alaina Urquhart’s The Butcher and the Wren, which sold over 67,000 copies.
Sales in juvenile fiction took a big hit, falling 13%. Sales were down in all subcategories, with the two largest, education/reference/language and history/sports/people/places, seeing declines of 14.1% and 11.9%, respectively.
Juvenile fiction sales fared better by comparison, down 4.8%. Stinelingers 2 by R.L. Stine was in the top spot, selling just over 53,000 copies, followed by Matthew McConaughey’s Just, which sold almost 25,000 copies in its first week.
