Unit Sales Close Out February On Down Note

With the four largest categories posting high-single-digit declines, unit sales of print books fell 7% in the week ended Mar. 2, 2019, compared to the similar week in 2018, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The juvenile fiction category had the largest decline, with units down 9.5% from the week ended Mar. 3, 2018. The annual Dr. Seuss promotion began last week and Seuss titles claimed eight of the 10 top spots on the category bestseller list, selling a total of about 210,000 copies, led by Green Eggs and Ham, which sold almost 44,000 copies. Last year, seven Seuss titles were in the top 10 and sold approximately 218,000 copies, with Green Eggs and Ham at #1 with about 53,000 copies sold. Adult fiction unit sales declined 6.7% compared to 2018. As has been common this year, books at the top of the category bestseller list did well, but sales were weaker for books further down the list. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was #1 in adult fiction in the week, with 27,000 copies sold, while a year ago, Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone was in the top spot with more than 19,000 units sold. Adult nonfiction unit sales fell 5.1% compared to 2018, when two new books hit the top of the category list, selling a total of 74,000 copies: Food by Mark Hyman and I’ve Been Thinking by Maria Shriver. Last week, Michelle Obama’s Becoming returned to the top spot on the adult nonfiction list, selling almost 42,000 copies, while Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis was in second place, with nearly 23,00 copies sold. In a look at formats, mass market paperback continued to struggle, with units down 18.4% last week.

Total Sales of Print Books

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Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

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Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

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