The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending June 8, 2014

With three of the four major segments posting gains, unit sales of print books rose 2% in the week ended June 8, 2014, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The juvenile fiction category had the strongest performance: units were up 20% over the week ended June 9, 2013. With the release of the film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars on June 6, combined sales of the two paperback editions of John Green’s blockbuster YA novel reached 266,000 units at BookScan outlets in week 23, up 56% from the previous week. Sales of the hardcover edition hit 29,000 units in the week ended June 8, up 45% from week 22, while Green’s Looking for Alaska sold about 28,000 copies. The juvenile nonfiction category had a 10% increase in week 23 over the similar week last year, led by a 27% increase in board book sales. Adult fiction sales fell 14% year over year, despite the release of Stephen King’s latest, Mr. Mercedes, which sold about 81,000 copies at outlets that report to BookScan, making it the top-selling adult novel for week 23.

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.