Effect of War on Book Sales Down Under

Weekly book sales dropped by 5% in value the week the Iraq war started, recording the lowest week of revenue for the Australian book industry in 2003, according to the latest data from Nielsen BookScan.

'Weekly book sales dropped from $12.6 million in the week prior to war, to $12 million the week the war started, although sales have since recovered in April to levels pre the commencement of the war in Iraq' according to Kirsty Ward of Nielsen BookScan. 'While book sales were impacted by consumer uncertainty, they were nowhere near the impact of September 11, when sales dropped by a massive 18% during that week.'

'When it comes to books about Iraq, President Bush and the war, whilst these are not racing up to the top of the charts, quite a few titles are selling very well. In particular, 'Stupid White Men' ranked No. 1 in the Political Science category and No. 3 overall in the latest Nielsen BookScan charts.' Ward commented. 'The book reviews how 'President' Bush stole an election aided only by his brother, cousin, his dad's cronies, electoral fraud and tame judges; how the rich stay rich while forcing the rest of us to live in economic fear; and how politicians have whored themselves to big business.'

Nielsen BookScan is the only comprehensive book tracking service for the Australian publishing industry, tracking retail book sales via point-of-sale data from over 1000 booksellers nationwide.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

• Nielsen Media Research Australia
• All news