Further to our holiday sales analysis from a week ago, NPD Bookscan issued sales statistics for the final week of 2017, and the full year. Per the trends noted a week ago, physical sales as measured by service registered approximately 687 million units for 2017, up by 13 million units over 2016, for a 1.9 percent gain. (As also reported previously, since PubTrack Digital-measured ebook sales fell 13 million units in the first three quarters of the year, total units will be around flat.) Backlist was the driver, again, up 26.6 million books, for a 6.8 percent gain. That matches […]
Industry Statistics
UK Print Units Decline In 2017
Because of the holiday Bookscan will not release their US sales statistics for the final week of 2017 until Thursday, but in the UK the final report shows a mixed view of a basically flat year. While the headline says the print market grew, the measure of book consumption says the opposite: Print book sales were 189.8 million units, down 2.6 percent from 195 million units in 2016. (And ebook sales were likely down as well.) What grew is the measure of the bookselling economy — sales generated at retail (which Bookscan captures in the UK, but not in the US). […]
Once Again, Last Minute Surge Lifts Holiday Book Sales
In keeping with recent trends, books look to be what people buy as last-minute gifts: A final week surge lifted print book sales for the five-week holiday period into positive territory compared to last year, for at least the fourth year in a row. Bookscan statistics published Thursday show print book sales for the week ending December 24 through outlets they track of approximately 34.47 million units, or 2.16 million units above the same week last year, up 6.7 percent. That made all the difference, putting print sales over the past five weeks up 1.53 million units overall versus 2016, […]
A Season of Sales at Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy’s year-end letter to employees celebrates “an enormously gratifying year,” with numerous successes in sales and awards. “I am pleased to report that all the big books we hoped would perform well were, indeed, big.” Beyond the big new titles, Reidy observes, “there has been a marked trend among readers to purchase the tried and true, and we had the backlist to meet that demand.” In topical issues, this year Reidy celebrates having “made great progress in our efforts to increase diversity in both our staffing and publishing.” The Salaam Reads imprint launched in February, […]
Trend Watch: Waiting for the Holiday Turnaround
With weekly Bookscan statistics showing overall print unit sales for the holiday season still lagging the previous two years, it comes down to the final two weeks to see how book sales will fare. With less political distraction than a year ago, and a continuing trend of rising print sales needing to make up for declining ebook sales, one would hope that print book sales would already show a better holiday sales pattern. Over the past 3 weeks, through December 10, book unit sales as measured by Bookscan registered just over 58 million units, down 2.7 percent, or 1.6 million […]
AAP July Sales Were Low
We knew that AAP trade sales statistics for July would be lower than a year ago — when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child landed late in the month. The main question was how weak would the month look and the answer is, pretty weak (to the extent that month-by-month AAP figures are an indicator of anything, which we have questioned pretty thoroughly). Children’s sales were $72 million lower than a year ago, at $124 million — and in July 2016, children’s sales had risen $53 million on the Potter release. Adult sales were down as well, even with a […]