Nielsen is proud to sponsor NZ Book Month which is held every year in March

It’s a month-long celebration of books and reading with events across New Zealand and $5-off book vouchers for all.

New Zealand Book Month is a non-profit initiative promoting books and reading – and as a result, literacy. You can participate (virtually or physically) in a variety of literary events around the country, by becoming a ‘Book Month Activist’.

For more information: New Zealand Book Month

Globally

• Consumer confidence declined one point to 91 in Q4
• 33 of 58 countries posted lower confidence levels than Q3
• Discretionary saving and spending patterns declined
• Recessionary mindset improved to 59%, down from 62% in Q3

Regionally

• North Americans showed signs of economic improvement
• Declining confidence in Europe spread from troubled to core countries
• Developing Asia-Pacific markets outperformed developed ones
• Latin Americans were confident for year ahead
• Confidence declined among Middle Easterners/Africans

In the latest round of the survey, conducted November 10–27, 2012, consumer confidence rose in one-third (33%) of global markets measured by Nielsen, compared to a 52-percent increase in the previous quarter. Asia-Pacific (101) and Latin America (96) reported the only regional consumer confidence index increases in Q4, rising one and two points, respectively. Middle East/Africa declined two points to 96, North America dropped one point to 90, and Europe decreased three index points to 71, compared to Q3.

To find out more: Nielsen Consumer Confidence Report Q4 2012

Which books are selling the most in Australia and NZ right now?

If you subscribe to Nielsen BookData Online you can sort your search results by Nielsen BookScan ranking. This will rank the titles returned in your search results in any genre allowing you to order/stock the most popular titles in that category.

If you are a retailer providing your sales data to our Nielsen BookScan panel, then you will have the latest Nielsen BookScan information at your fingertips; why not run a report to see what’s selling in your shop and which categories are selling best and then compare that with the national trend?

This week we ran a search on Nielsen BookScan to find the bestsellers in Australia, here is the result:

We also ran a search for New Zealand:

See the latest Nielsen BookScan 4-weekly Top 10s for Australia, New Zealand and the UK. 

Customers subscribing to Nielsen BookData Online, Nielsen BookData Record Supply, Nielsen BookData Web Services [ONIX] should note the following:

Nielsen used to output RRP (Recommended Retail Prices) to its products and services as we have not previously needed to identify other types of prices, but which may in future be supplied by publishers or distributors, in particular (but not exclusively) for digital products. We have therefore undertaken work to output non-Recommended Retail Prices to our products and services from mid-February.  Details of this change have been provided to all clients.

Customers subscribing to Nielsen BookData Online should also note:

As a result of customer feedback we have developed a new feature to allow users to include or exclude records from publishers whose output is primarily categorised as Public Domain Reproductions or Internet Compilations (referred to as 'Supplementary Publishers').

What is meant by the term ‘Supplementary Publishers'?
These titles are usually printed ‘on demand’ and are generally a catalogue of products that have been sourced from scans of public domain works or compilations of internet content. We have categorised them internally as ‘Supplementary Publishers’. These can be either excluded or included in your searches.

Please contact your Account Manager if you have any questions on the above improvements to your service.

This month's Help Tip: Creating Lists using Nielsen BookData Online

For example if your customer is interested in Crime Fiction published in Australia and New Zealand, and wants a complete list of titles, including not yet published books how do you create a list? Creating Lists Help Tip 

And finally here are some useful links:

Nielsen BookScan Australia Calendar / Nielsen BookScan NZ Calendar

Upcoming events Nielsen will be attending

ABA AND LEADING EDGE CONFERENCE

The Australian Booksellers Association and Leading Edge Books Group will hold their 2013 conferences and joint trade exhibition in Adelaide over the weekend of June 15-17 2013.

The Leading Edge Books Conference will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of Friday 14 June, creating the opportunity for networking and discussion amongst delegates in a relaxed environment. LEB Conference sessions will be held on Saturday 15 June. The agenda will feature group specific discussions on a variety of pertinent issues and topics of interest. There will also be key supplier sessions, creating the opportunity for business relationship reviews, to hear about upcoming releases, as well as identifying and exploring areas of opportunity and future initiatives.

In keeping with Leading Edge tradition, delegates and suppliers will come together for the Leading Edge Awards Dinner on Saturday 15 June. The evening will include bookseller awards, publisher awards, author participation and of course the much anticipated surprise conference guest!

We are delighted that Jonathan Nowell, President of Nielsen Book, will be presenting at the conference; Jonathan will look at how Australian book sales fit within the global framework.

Find out more: ABA and Leading Edge Joint Press Release

Nielsen BookScan 2012 Reports:

Nielsen BookScan Australia Snapshot
Nielsen BookScan New Zealand Snapshot

Latest Nielsen Press Releases:

Nielsen BookScan 2012 End of Year Review - Jan 2013
Understanding the E-Book Market - Dec 2012
Jamie Oliver takes the Number 1 slot - Dec 2012

What's making the headlines this month:

The 30 Best Places To Be If You Love Books

Are eBook Apps, HTML5 or ePub3 the Future of Digital Publishing?

Ingram's MyiLibrary Tackles Thorny eBook Lending Scenarios

The Life of Pi sells 3,141,593 copies, and counting…

Good news: Unlike West, publishing industry growing in India

LBF 2013 announces Sara Lloyd as Digital Minds Conference Chair

Can Brazil Build 39 Libraries Per Day Until 2020?

Amazon reports record sales of $21bn 

That’s all folks; have a good month.