Banning Boosts Book Sales

According to NPD BookScan, an unusual market segment appears to be boosting publishers’ sales: banned books.

NPD Bookscan has tracked sales of books that have been challenged recently by school library boards, parents groups, and others, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.

Not surprisingly, NPD’s Kristen McLean found that coverage of bans against specific titles – such as Maus, Antiracist Baby, and Gender Queer – has spurred significant sales increases for these books.

Gender Queer by Maia Kolbabe experienced significant sales growth in May. So, too, did All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, and Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, after Texas Senator Ted Cruz criticized it during a Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

“McLean makes a very, very good point: books that get this coverage and are cited as the focus of these bans may sell more, but all the other hundreds that are also banned but not getting shouted out do not do better,” Albanese notes.

“It would also be interesting to see the effect of the bans on those titles, because I’m sure its negative, owing to ‘soft censorship,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “That’s when a librarian or a teacher chooses not to order a book because they think, ‘I’ll get in trouble with my board.’”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Velocity of Content” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.