News
year was led by a 10.3% increase in Spain and Latin
America and a 6.3% rise in France. With strong sales
in other parts of the world, the U.S. and Canada
accounted for 28% of Lagardère Publishing’s revenue
(about $734 million at current exchange rates), down
from 29% in 2018.
The decline in sales and earnings at Simon & Schusterwas due in part to a weak fourth quarter, when revenue
dropped 29% compared to the final period of 2018. S&S
CEO Carolyn Reidy had been concerned about difficult
comparisons to 2018, when Fear by Bob Woodward was
a big holiday seller, and her concerns were justified.
Bright spots for the year included digital audio,where sales rose 15% over 2018, and e-book sales,
which increased for the first time in at least three
years, up 1%, Reidy told PW. Overall, digital sales in 2019
increased 7%, but the gain was not enough to offset a
drop in print sales.
Sales in the S&S children’s group were up in 2019,but adult group revenue fell compared to 2018.
International sales were solid, Reidy said, especially in
Canada and Australia, which both had double-digit
increases in profits.
Just as it was at S&S, a soft fourth quarter was a sig-nificant factor in dropping revenue at Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Books & Media by 9.9% in 2019. HMH blamed
the sales decline in the year mainly on a drop in licensing
income: in 2018, HMH received $16 million from licensing
1984 and Animal Farm. HMH said that an increase in
sales in the Little Blue Truck series and solid sales for
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone last year were offset
by strong sales performances in 2018 of Instant Pot
Miracle and the Whole30 series. —Jim Milliot
WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 9The Weekly Scorecard
Print Unit Sales Dropped
13.5% in Mid-March
Steep drops in both adult segments led to a 13.5% decline in
print unit sales in the week ended Mar. 28, 2020, compared to
the similar week in 2019, at outlets the report to NPD BookScan.
Print sales plunged 35.8% in adult nonfi ction compared to the
week ended Mar. 30, 2019. Sales were weak throughout the
category. The top 10 nonfi ction bestsellers sold about 91,
units combined, down 49% from the 178,000 units the top 10
sold a year ago. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson was
#1 in the category, selling just over 17,000 copies, followed by
Untamed by Glennon Doyle, which sold almost 15,000 copies.
Last year at this time Mich elle Obama’s Becoming was #1 in
adult nonfi ction, selling more than 30,000 copies, trailed by
Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rach el Hollis, which sold just under
30,000 copies. Print unit sales fell 23.1% in adult fi ction in the
most recent week compared to last year. The top 10 bestsellers
sold about 125,000 copies combined, compared to 236,
copies in 2019. Supermarket by Bobby Hall was #1 in the
category at this time last year, selling nearly 64,000 copies,
followed by Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, which
sold about 47,000 copies. In the most recent week, Celeste
Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere was #1, selling more than 29,
copies, while Crawdads was #2, selling nearly 28,000 copies.
Print unit sales skyrock eted 66% in the most recent week over
2019 in juvenile nonfi ction, led by Big Preschool, which sold
nearly 21,000 copies, and The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids
by Carole Roman, which sold almost 19,000 copies.SOURCE: NPD BOOKSCAN AND ERS APPROXIMATELY 80% OF THE PRINT BOOK MARKET AND CONTINUES TO GROW.PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. NPD’S U.S. CONSUMER MARKET PANEL COV-TOTAL SALES OF PRINT BOOKS (in thousands)
MAR. 30, MAR. 28, CHGE CHGE
2019 2020 WEEK YTD
Total 11,724 10,147 -13.5% 0.9%MAR. 30, MAR. 28, CHGE CHGE
2019 2020 WEEK YTD
Adult Nonfi ction 4,923 3,162 -35.8% -3.7%
Adult Fiction 2,380 1,830 -23.1% -1.3%
Juvenile Nonfi ction 1,068 1,771 66.0% 17.0%
Juvenile Fiction 2,795 2,983 6.7% 0.1%
Young Adult Fiction 349 283 -19.1% 7.4%
Young Adult Nonfi ction 38 43 13.8% 19.2%UNIT SALES OF PRINT BOOKS BY CATEGORY (in thousands)UNIT SALES OF PRINT BOOKS BY FORMAT (in thousands)
MAR. 30, MAR. 28, CHGE CHGE
2019 2020 WEEK YTD
Hardcover 3,391 2,549 -24.8% -3.9%
Trade Paperback 6,328 5,984 -5.4% 2.7%
Mass Market Paperback 833 541 -35.1% -12.5%
Board Books 811 681 -16.0% -7.9%Virus Concerns
Prompt Cost Cuts
T
he steady erosion of book sales is impacting all
parts of publishing as the Covid-19 pandemic
tightens its grip on the U.S.
At the top of the industry supply chain, MacmillanPublishers became the first of the Big Five trade pub-
lishers to publicly disclose the cost-saving actions it
has taken in response to the anticipated impact of
Covid-19 on business. Explaining that its actions