Non-fiction slumps as fiction sales soar 90%

06.11.09 Victoria Gallagher, Graeme Neill and Philip Stone in The Bookseller

Retailers are concerned about the performance of hardback non-fiction books in the run-up to Christmas, despite hardback fiction books "muscling" in to replace some of the lost revenue.
Sales of this year’s top 10 non-fiction books in October were down 52% year on year, while sales of hardback fiction titles have soared by 90%.

Figures for the most recent week to 31st October showed non-fiction continuing to underperform. Only Guinness World Records and Delia Smith’s Delia’s Happy Christmas (Ebury) sold more than 10,000 copies last week. Last year 10 hardback non-fiction titles passed this threshold during the same period.

By contrast six hardback fiction titles sold more than 10,000 copies at UK book retailers last week, with two of those selling more than 30,000 copies. Only three hardback fiction titles sold more than 10,000 copies in the same week last year.

The Total Consumer Market has dropped only ­marginally year on year over the month of October. Value sales were down 0.6% to £146.9m and volume sales dropped 1.6% to 17.3m. But this masks a massive drop in hardback non-fiction sales over the period. Hardback non-fiction sales in October 2009 reached 427,658, compared with unit sales of 896,704 in October 2008.

Booksellers noted that r.r.p.s on books are high this year with hardback non-fiction titles including Peter Kay, Ant and Dec and Jeremy Clarkson priced at £20 and Delia Smith and Jamie Oliver even more expensive. One retailer said: "Publishers have got a bit greedy when it has come to cover price. You have to discount that highly to make it attractive to the consumer."

Peter Kay’s The Sound of Laughter was noted by several retailers as showing a disappointing performance. It sold 51,730 copies in October. One retailer said: "It’s not great value in comparison to other books. £20 is a lot for a book of not even 300 pages. It’s significantly less value than other memoirs."

Cookery titles have in the past been a Christmas staple, with celebrity chefs whipping up high sales. However, sales of Jamie’s America (Michael Joseph) have been well behind Jamie’s Ministry of Food (Michael Joseph) from last year. Sally Hughes of Books for Cooks said: "Jamie did well when he was on TV but has fallen off quickly. River Cafe is not moving as well as we thought it might—it is selling but it seems a bit slow."

However, retailers hailed the success of Guinness World Records, which knocked Dan Brown off this week’s top spot with sales of 31,812.

Among the non-fiction books expected to pick up steam in the weeks before Christmas were Where’s Stig? (BBC Books) and The Hummingbord Bakery Cookbook as well as books by Delia Smith, Jeremy Clarkson and Ant and Dec. One retailer said: "Ant and Dec have done better than expected. That should hold on in the run-up to Christmas or even get better with the broadcast of ‘I’m a Celebrity’."

In spite of non-fiction’s woes, sales of fiction are thriving in early autumn. Hardback fiction was up almost double (90.2%) in October year on year. Books by Dan Brown, Martina Cole and Terry Pratchett have been enjoying healthy sales figures despite the recession.

Rachel Russell, business unit director for books at W H Smith, said: "Fiction is doing very well and seems to be muscling into the non-­fiction market. I expect gifting to come later in non-fiction because Christmas falls on a Friday."

However, Steph Bateson, book buying manager at Asda, said: "I don’t think fiction is squeezing out non-fiction." Bateson added: "Fiction is a self-purchase whereas non-fiction is a gift purchase. It’s unlikely you would buy Peter Kay for yourself now in case you got bought it for Christmas."

Despite the lack of non-fiction sales, retailers remained positive about the coming weeks. "It’s always a concern when the big books aren’t hitting for customers but I’m not concerned about how Christmas will end up," said Bateson.

Most retailers predicted that the Christmas rush would begin later this month. Phil Edwards, senior buying manager at Gardners, said that the slow start was something he had experienced in previous years. "We don’t normally see a pick-up in the Christmas market until school half-terms and Bonfire Night are over," he said. "In addition, it still doesn’t feel like the Christmas period is upon us—not when we have just come out of an Indian summer."