In terms of dollars, sales were down 0.5 percent versus the prior year according to NielsenIQ BookScan. Unit volume was down more, by 2.5 percent. Like in the US, adult fiction was strong and grew 5.3 percent in dollars. Nonfiction declined by 3.6 percent and showed its lowest performance since 2018. Children’s was up slightly, by 0.4 percent, driven by comics (namely, Dav Pilkey) and YA fiction (namely, Suzanne Collins). Learn more in The Bookseller (subscription may be required).
- Also: Here’s a list of 2025 bestsellers in Canada, according to BookNet Canada. Canadian authors are marked with a maple leaf. Browse.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
