Book sales in the weeks leading up to Christmas have dropped by seven per cent this year, according to the latest research emerging from book industry bible Nielson BookScan.

Figures from Nielson BookScan have found book sales across Australia in the ten weeks leading to December are significantly weaker than last year’s results. A decline in popularity for the so-called  therapeutic colouring books this year compared to Christmas in 2015 has been attributed to the drop.

Nielson also says printed colouring books last year generated some $14m for the book industry, however this year the adult colouring fad has only managed to reach $1.1m in sales.

Sales for the top 100 book titles are down by 9.7 per cent, and the top 10 bestsellers are struggling to find a way into Santa sacks this year with sales volumes falling by 11.6 per cent.

This year has generated slow book figures despite the release of several high-profile titles, including two Harry Potter spin-offs The Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which have hit record sales in Australia.

According to Nielson’s figures, the top two bestsellers in the last month of sales are children’s books Fantastic Beasts and the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid edition, followed by Lee Child’s fresh Jack Reacher novel Night School.

The weak book sales come during a challenging time for the Australian book industry, after it was thrown into a limbo following Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s intention to revise parallel import restriction (PIR) laws.

However Australian book printers, authors and publishers were able to breathe a sigh of relief last week when leader of the opposition Bill Shorten revealed he would block any move from Liberal to pass PIR legislation changes through parliament. 

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