Unit sales of print books continue to defy expectations that the coronavirus crisis will lead to a plunge in sales. In fact, just the opposite is occurring. Last week, unit sales of print books had their second consecutive week of double-digit growth over the previous week at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. For the week ended May 9, 2020, print units were up 10.5% over the prior week, and rose 9.9% over the week ended May 11, 2019.
All four of the major categories had sales increases over the week ended May 2. In adult fiction, print units had a 14.7% increase over the prior week. Religion fiction led the increase, with units up nearly 44%…
