Overall deal reports remained strong in the third quarter, running ahead of the consumer marketplace, though there was some softening in what has been a long run of new records for major deals in particular and six-figure deals overall. After a soft second quarter (when deal reports declined 4.7 percent, due to a big drop in reports from digital publishers), third quarter deals were up 4.8 percent over the same period in 2024. Fiction remained strong, up over 9 percent, while adult fiction and children’s books declined modestly, and digital publisher deals recovered after a weak first half of the year. […]
