The Weekly Scorecard: Tracking Unit Print Sales for Week Ending October 16, 2016

Unit sales of print books fell 2% in the week ended Oct. 16, 2016, compared to the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. All four major categories had declines in unit sales in the week. The biggest decline was in juvenile nonfiction, where units dropped 10% . In the week ended Oct. 18, 2015, the segment benefited from huge first-week sales of This Book Is Not On Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester, which sold almost 57,000 copies in its debut week. In the comparable week in 2016, the top-selling book in the category, The Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook, sold under 10,000 copies. Unit sales in juvenile fiction slipped 2% in the week. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child returned to first place on the category bestseller list, selling more than 33,000 copies, while the previous week’s #1 juvenile fiction title, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 2 by Rick Riordan, sold just under 23,000 copies, landing it in second place on the list. Unit sales fell 1% in the week for both the adult fiction and nonfiction categories. Sales of the three editions of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins all declined in the week, although the trade paperback edition remained in the top spot on the adult fiction list, selling more than 50,000 copies. Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard stayed in the #1 spot on the adult nonfiction bestseller list, with just under 62,000 copies sold in the week.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format

*Totals for 2016 include units sold through Family Christian Stores. No sales through Family Christian are included in 2015.