After rising for five consecutive weeks, unit sales fell 1% in Nielsen BookScan’s retail & club channel for the week ended Nov. 17, 2013, compared to week 46 in 2012. The decline was due entirely to softness in the adult fiction category, where units fell 13%. The top-selling adult fiction title in the week was, once again, Sycamore Row, which sold about 53,000 units, followed by the biggest adult fiction debut, The First Phone Call from Heaven, which sold approximately 45,000 copies at outlets that report to BookScan. In week 46 of 2012, two debuts posted higher sales than Sycamore: The Last Man (72,000) and Merry Christmas, Alex Cross (55,000). Juvenile fiction, which had a 27% increase in week 45, saw the gain fall to 2% in week 46 of 2013, compared to the week ended Nov. 18, 2012. Sales of Jeff Kinney’s Hard Luck remained strong (264,807), but were below the 357,265 units sold of Kinney’s The Third Wheel in week 46 last year.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Nov. 18, 2012 Nov. 17, 2013 % Chge Week % Chge YTPD
Total 11,465* 12,145 6% 4%
Mass Merch./Other 1,477* 2,282 55 53
Retail & Club 9,988 9,863 -1 -3

Unit Sales of Print Books via Retail & Club

Category Nov. 18, 2012 Nov. 17, 2013 % Chge Week % Chge YTPD
Adult Nonfiction 3,976 4,101 3% -0.3%
Adult Fiction 2,016 1,747 -13 -11
Juvenile Nonfiction 697 700 0.4 5
Juvenile Fiction 2,612 2,670 2 -3
Format
Hardcover 3,409 3,352 -2% -2%
Trade Paperback 4,959 4,916 -0.9 -3
Mass Market Paperback 823 735 -11 -8
Board Books 259 313 21 13
Audio 90 92 2 -6

*Excludes wal-mart. Category segment excludes “other,” which includes audio, maps, calendars, and other miscellaneous categories. Format excludes calendars, boxed sets, and other formats (i.e., maps, minibooks).

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.