The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending May 4, 2014

Unit sales of print books dipped 0.4% in the week ended May 4, 2014, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. The small decline brought an end to a four-week streak of year-over-year sales gains. Nevertheless, through the first four months of 2014, print unit sales were just about flat with the same period in 2013, as a 1% gain in sales through the retail & club channel offset a 3% decline in sales through mass merchandisers. The two juvenile categories performed well in week 18 of 2014, even though there were no major debuts. In the juvenile fiction, where sales rose 18% in the week, the five top-selling titles were the same as the five from the previous week: two editions of The Fault in Our Stars bookending three Divergent titles. The biggest gainer in the juvenile nonfiction category was a new Frozen sticker book. The adult fiction category had a number of big print debuts, although units fell 14% in week 18 of 2014, compared to the week ended May 5, 2013. First Sight and Natchez Burning had the strongest start in the week, selling approximately 28,000 and 22,000 copies, respectively, at outlets that report to BookScan.

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.