The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending February 9, 2014

Unit sales of print books fell 5% in the week ended Feb. 9, 2014, compared to week six of 2013, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Once again, softness in the adult fiction category accounted for much of the decline, as adult fiction units dropped 18% in the week, compared to the week ended Feb. 10, 2013. For the first six weeks of 2014, adult fiction units were down 15%, compared to the same period in 2013. One factor in the adult sales decline has been the lack of big debut titles. In week six, the highest-ranking new book was James Patterson and Howard Roughan’s Second Honeymoon, which hit the overall list at #18 with about 12,000 copies sold at outlets that report to BookScan. While juvenile fiction has not had a major hit in 2014 either, sales of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth continued to be strong enough in week six to lift sales for the category 2%. The lack of new fiction is hurting sales through the mass merchandiser channel, as those stores tend to sell more fiction than nonfiction. In week six of 2014, sales through the mass merchandiser channel were down 16% compared to the week ended Feb. 10, 2013.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

Source: Nielsen BookScan and Publishers Weekly. Nielsen BookScan’s U.S. Consumer Market Panel covers approximately 80% of the print book market and continues to grow.