Unit sales of print books rose 2% in the first nine months of 2015, compared to the similar period in 2014, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan, which records about 80%–85% of all print sales. The gain was led by a 4% increase in the retail and club channel, which includes bookstores and Amazon; this increase offset declines through mass merchandisers.

The performance in the first nine months of the year was also marked by a good showing from adult fiction. Units in the segment have fallen steadily since the surge of e-books in 2009, but from January to September this year units were up 3% over the same span in 2014. Sales of adult fiction were helped enormously by three print blockbusters: Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman has sold 1.4 million print copies since its July release; Grey by E.L. James has sold 1.2 million since publication in June; and 1.1 million copies of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins have been sold since its hardcover release in January.

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