As school kids around the globe shift to learning from home, parents are buying books. Lots of books.
“As has been the usual case since the new coronavirus upended the book market, the juvenile categories posted the strongest results,” writes Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly. “Print unit sales of juvenile fiction titles rose 26.2% in the week, led by a 38.3% jump in the animals category and a 31.9% gain in the holidays/festivals/religion segment. The juvenile nonfiction category had a 15.9% increase in the week, led by a 62% jump in sales in the holidays/festivals/religion segment.”
Kids are not the only ones enjoying their new books; grownups are taking advantage of this time at home to have a good read too.
“Adult nonfiction sales increased 6.8% driven by a 93% jump in sales in the cooking/entertaining segment,” writes Milliot, “which benefited from the release of Magnolia Table, Volume 2 by Joanna Gaines, which sold more than 130,000 copies in its first week on sale—approximately 93,000 more print copies than second place My First Learn-To-Write Workbook by Crystal Radke sold last week. The humor and home/gardening segments had unit sales gains of 26% and 24%, respectively.”
Overall, print unit sales were up by 13.7% in the week ending April 11, yet more evidence that we all appreciate the special experience of reading on paper.
One note – with bookshops closed, there’s a way we can all help. Visit IndieBound or Bookshop to order. The bookstores that partner there will get a higher commission than if you buy from Amazon. The shop makes a sale, and author gets paid, and you get a book. Win win win.