Unit sales of print books rose 3% in the quarter ended April 5, 2015, compared to the first quarter of 2014, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. All four of the major categories had an increase in the period, including adult fiction. Print unit sales of adult fiction have been the most negatively affected by the rise of e-books, and units for all of 2014 fell 8% from the prior year. In the first quarter of 2015, graphic novels and classics had gains of 18% and 10%, respectively, which helped offset declines in some key adult fiction genres such as fantasy, mystery/detective, and romance—all of which continued to see print sales erode.

Sales of general fiction (the largest genre in the adult fiction category) increased 7% over the similar period last year; for 2014, units of general fiction dropped 8%.

Units of adult nonfiction increased 3% in the quarter led by big gains in the biography/autobiography/memoir and house & home/gardening categories. Strong sales of biography/autobiography in the first quarter benefitted from the popularity of the different editions of Chris Kyle’s American Sniper book. An improving economy likely helped turn around print sales in the house & home category, where sales had previously fallen 8% from 2013 to 2014. More helpful was the runaway success of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo, which sold nearly 200,000 copies in the first quarter. Computers and humor, two categories that had double-digit unit declines in 2014, had the biggest drop in the first quarter of 2015.

Juvenile nonfiction had the best first quarter of 2015, with units up 16%. Holidays/festivals/religion had the biggest increase in the quarter, with units up 26%. Books about Easter did much better in the first quarter this year than last year. Sales in the games/activities/hobbies category, which rose 33% in 2014 over 2013, had a solid first quarter in 2015 with units up 19%, once again thanks to sales of Minecraft books.

Unit sales in the entire juvenile fiction category rose 3% in the quarter, led by a 44% increase in the holidays/festivals/religion segment and a 26% gain in animals. Units in the largest juvenile fiction segment, general fiction, fell 3%, while units in the larger science fiction/fantasy/magic segment were flat. The latter category had a 38% unit increase in 2014, over 2013, led by the Divergent trilogy and the Frozen franchise. The top seller in the segment in the first quarter this year was Jeff Kinney’s The Long Haul.

Unit Sales by Category, First Quarter 2015

(in thousands)

Q1 2014 Q1 2015 CHANGE
Adult Nonfiction
Art/Architecture/Design/Photography 1,767 1,634 -8%
Biography/Autobiography/Memoir 4,586 6,074 32%
Business/Economics 4,399 4,699 7%
Cooking/Entertaining 3,400 3,488 3%
Computers 1,470 1,286 -13%
Crafts/Hobbies/Antiques/Games 2,018 2,134 6%
Health/Fitness/Medicine/Sports 6,392 6,148 -4%
History/Law/Political Science 3,539 3,536 0%
House & Home/Gardening 575 720 25%
Humor 978 852 -13%
Performing Arts 1,949 2,092 7%
Reference 8,290 8,485 2%
Religion/Bibles 9,665 9,619 0%
Self-Help 2,583 2,674 4%
Travel 1,931 1,966 2%
General Nonfiction 7,290 7,446 2%
Total Adult Nonfiction 60,832 62,852 3%
Adult Fiction
Action/Adventure 588 596 1%
Classics 1,683 1,854 10%
Fantasy 1,841 1,628 -12%
Graphic Novels 2,074 2,452 18%
Mystery/Detective 3,219 2,993 -7%
Occult/Psychological/Horror 750 605 -19%
Religion 1,135 1,165 3%
Romance 8,383 7,894 -6%
Science Fiction 1,013 1,053 4%
Suspense/Thrillers 4,799 5,192 8%
Western 611 623 2%
General Fiction 7,785 8,308 7%
Total Adult Fiction 33,881 34,365 1%
Juvenile Nonfiction
Animals 1,023 1,183 16%
Biographies/Autobiographies 1,035 1,232 19%
Concepts 991 1,128 14%
Education/Reference/Language 1,173 1,373 17%
Games/Activities/Hobbies 2,254 2,730 21%
History/Sports/People/Places 2,457 2,685 9%
Holidays/Festivals/Religion 949 1,195 26%
Social Situations/Family/Health 613 682 11%
Total Juvenile Nonfiction 10,494 12,208 16%
Juvenile Fiction
Animals 2,177 2,734 26%
Classics 2,543 2,782 9%
Concepts 2,207 2,370 7%
History/Sports/People/Places 3,317 3,127 -6%
Holidays/Festivals/Religion 1,391 2,008 44%
Science Fiction/Fantasy/Magic 9,866 9,881 0%
Social Situations/Family/Health 5,851 6,129 5%
General Juvenile Fiction 12,536 12,195 -3%
Total Juvenile Fiction 39,889 41,226 3%