According to NPD BookScan (which tracks US print sales), adult nonfiction sales, the highest-value portion of the US market, appear to be returning to historic norms. Sales have fallen below 2021 but remain above 2019. Overall year-to-date growth for US print book sales is down 5 percent compared to 2021 but 18 percent above 2019, as fiction categories buffer losses against last year.
Strong performing titles right now include two new manga releases—Chainsaw Man, Vol. 9 by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Simon & Schuster) and Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 14 by Gege Akutami (Simon & Schuster)—as well as two novels by Colleen Hoover—It Ends with Us (Simon & Schuster) and Reminders of Him (Brilliance).
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.
