Print Book Sales Rose 2 Percent in the First Half of 2018, The NPD...

Print book sales are trending upward, due to growth in adult nonfiction titles, specifically religious books, cookbooks, and political books. Sales volume in the first half of 2018 rose 2 percent, year over year, to reach 317 million units, according to The NPD Group.

Print Book Category Growth Led by Adult Non-Fiction Titles

Adult non-fiction print book sales increased 4 percent in the first half of 2018, with 136 million units sold. In addition to politics and cooking, religion and self-help book sales also continued to grow, posting 6 percent and 12 percent increases respectively.

“Blockbuster nonfiction titles are spearheading this year’s growth in print book sales,” said Kristen Mclean, books industry analyst for NPD. “The presence of politics on the charts is unparalleled, ‘Fire and Fury,’ ‘A Higher Loyalty,’ and ‘A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo’ all in the top ten. The heightened interest in politics extends beyond the news cycle, with sales of political books posting their highest sales volume in the past fifteen years. At the same time, double-digit growth in the cookbook category is also bolstering overall nonfiction sales.”

Adult fiction print sales declined 4 percent, falling to 63 million units in the first half of 2018. The steepest declines in the adult fiction category came from the religious-fiction and romance sub-categories. Mystery-detective and sci-fi were bright spots, posting 5 percent and 18 percent growth respectively.

Following are the top-selling print book titles for the first half of 2018:

Rank    Title    Author    Publisher    Pub. Date
1    Fire and Fury    Michael Wolff    Macmillan    1/1/2018
2    Magnolia Table    Joanna Gaines    HarperCollins    4/1/2018
3    A Higher Loyalty    James Comey    Macmillan    4/1/2018
4    A Wrinkle in Time    Madeleine L'Engle    Macmillan    5/1/2007
5    Dog Man and Cat Kid    Dav Pilkey    Scholastic    12/1/2017
6    A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo    Marlon Bundo    Chronicle    3/1/2018
7    12 Rules for Life    Jordan B. Peterson    Penguin Random House    1/1/2018
8    Oh, The Places You'll Go!    Dr. Seuss    Penguin Random House    1/1/1990
9    The President is Missing    James Patterson, Bill Clinton    Hachette Book Group    6/1/2018
10    You Are a Badass    Jen Sincero    Hachette Book Group    4/1/2013

Source: The NPD Group /NPD BookScan and PubTrack Digital, January – June, 2018.

NPD BookScan provides point-of-sale tracking for the publishing market. It covers approximately 85 percent of trade print books sold in the U.S., through direct reporting from all major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target, independent bookstores, and many others.

About The NPD Group, Inc.
NPD offers data, industry expertise, and prescriptive analytics to help our clients grow their businesses in a changing world. Over 2000 companies worldwide rely on us to help them measure, predict, and improve performance across all channels, including brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. We have offices in 27 cities worldwide, with operations spanning the Americas, Europe, and APAC. Practice areas include apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, books, B2B technology, consumer technology, e-commerce, fashion accessories, food consumption, foodservice, footwear, home, juvenile products, media entertainment, mobile, office supplies, retail, sports, toys, travel retail, games, and watches / jewelry. For more information, visit npd.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdgroup.
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