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Topline: Adult fiction sales fell in the last week of March as the pandemic forced bookstores around the country to close and online retailer Amazon
- Adult fiction sales declined 21% during the last week of March compared to the week prior, according to market research firm NPD Bookscan.
- That week was when states like New York and Massachusetts closed all non-essential businesses, including bookstores; the week prior, Amazon said it would prioritize shipment of household and medical necessities to keep up with demand, resulting in longer delivery times for other items such as books.
- Sales of genres like epic fantasy and crime thrillers fell even more steeply, dropping 25% and 24%, respectively.
- It is not necessarily time to panic for the publishing industry yet: fiction sales are down only 1.3% for the year to date thanks to high-profile debuts like Jeanine Cummins’ American Dirt and the continued success of hits like Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
- Study aids for children slipped in the last week of March, but are still up more than 72% for the year as parents try to educate their kids at home.
What to watch for: The coronavirus’ effect on book sales appears to be regional based on where the outbreak is worst. Book sales overall dropped more than 21% in the New York City metro area in the last week of March, and nearly 17% in Boston. During the same time period, declines were in the single digits in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Upside: Pandemic fiction is getting a boost. The Plague by Albert Camus more than tripled its weekly sales by mid-March compared to the end of February, according to NPD. Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, a more recent pandemic bestseller, nearly doubled its sales in that same time frame.
Tangent: Little Fires Everywhere was the top seller, bolstered by the Hulu adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington that debuted on March 18.
