It was a positive year for the U.S. print book market, with annual unit sales growing 1% in 2024. This marked a return to growth for the book market following two years of consecutive declines. Adult fiction drove the gains led by fantasy, thrillers, and romance.
In the adult print market, fiction print sales grew 9.5 million units in 2024, led by fantasy, thrillers, and romance. Adult non-fiction declined by 1.3 million units, with biography posting the steepest losses.
Adult fiction was the strongest segment of the total book market in 2024. #BookTok is a key factor in the discovery and amplification of fiction sales. #BookTok author sales grew nearly 20% vs. 2023, marking the fifth year of growth for this key segment.
In adult non-fiction, biography posted the steepest losses, comping against top titles from 2023. Bright spots of growth in non-fiction print include religion and Bibles, along with family, which is led by gift journals.
In kids’ fiction, sales fell -2.5 million versus last year while kids’ non-fiction grew by a quarter of a million in units. By age segment, the middle reader posted the steepest losses, down 1.5 million over 2023. Pockets of growth in the kids’ market include infant books, up 1.4 million in units compared to prior year along with segments including licensed books, activity books, holidays, and religion.
The young adult market underperformed in 2024 with sales down 1.2 million compared to 2023. Areas of growth in YA include fantasy and romance, mirroring the trends in the adult fiction market.
Here are the top selling books of 2024, based on units sold:
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
It was a positive year for the U.S. print book market, with annual unit sales growing 1% in 2024. This marked a return to growth for the book market following two years of consecutive declines. Adult fiction drove the gains led by fantasy, thrillers, and romance.
