Long, hot summer proves good for books

The 2018 summer period has proved glorious for both the weather and book sales. Despite the heatwave and the World Cup in Russia, the UK print market sold 42 million books for £344.2m between the first week of June and the third week of August, via Nielsen BookScan's TCM. This was a bump of 0.6% in volume and 2.6% in value against the same period in 2017, just outpacing the overall year-on-year figures to date.

Summer 2018 has seen the largest value brought in since summer 2011, and over the last five years, only 2016—which saw the release of million-copy-bestseller Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown)—has outsold it in volume terms. Compared to summer 2013, volume was 2% up with value soaring a staggering 15.6%—average selling price has rocketed 96p to £8.18 over the last five years.

The boom in value between 2013 and 2018 is most likely due to a boost in hardback sales, with 20% of the 2018 summer market’s volume made up of hardbacks, and the format taking a 28% share of value—compared to 16% of summer 2013’s volume and 25% of its value. Hardbacks sold 8.3 million units across summer 2018, bringing in £95m.

Money brought in by hardbacks is up 28% since 2013, with volume up 21%. In the last five years, the average selling price of hardbacks has increased by 62p, from £10.74 in summer 2013 to £11.36 this year. However, paperback a.s.p is rising too, with a near 14% increase over the half-decade. While paperback value has risen 12% in that time, volume has fallen nearly 2%.

Dan Brown's Origin (Bantam Press) has been the biggest hit of the summer, holding the number one spot for six weeks and shifting 211,766 copies since its release in mid-July. However, Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (HarperFiction) has continued to rack up strong sales over the summer, selling 230,993 copies between the start of June and the third week of August, and Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt (Picador) has proved a runaway non-fiction bestseller, improving on impressive sales over spring to sell 185,542 copies and top the Paperback Non-Fiction chart for a total of 18 weeks.

Booksellers too have experienced solid summer trading. Nic Bottomley of Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath said the summer has been "really really good", and helped in particular by the tourism the town has experienced.

"It's been a really robust summer for is, and even better than the spring," Bottomley told The Booskeller, "There has been a big range of successful titles for us, not just one standout hit. We will be hosting a Caitllin Moran event so she's doing well for us, and there's been more interest in the Booker longlist than in previous years."

The Edinburgh Bookshop has also been helped by tourism, with a huge number of visitors descending on the city for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Bookseller Olivia Kekewich said the summer has been "really good and really busy". "Sales throughout the year have been good, but summer has been particularly good with so much tourism around. The weather has also helped things," she said.

The Bookseller has defined the summer period as from the first week of June to the third week of August.