While we have a deep dive elsewhere in this issue on NPD BookScan’s sales data, here’s a quick snapshot of what happened in May and June. As a result of #BlackoutBestsellerList and continued interest in social justice and anti-racism titles, print unit sales have been up versus 2019—and the week ending June 20 was the best performing week of the year so far. Right now, the top-selling fiction title is Suzanne Collins’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, published in May 2020, with total print sales of more than 750,000 units. Adult fiction sales increased by 23 percent in the five weeks ending June 5, 2020, compared to the previous five weeks. And when comparing 2020 with 2019, print book unit sales are up 2 percent year-to-date through June 27.
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.
