A group of titles launch ‘Deliver My Newspaper’

♦ Company is experiencing strong ecommerce demand in its Gourmet Foods and Gift Baskets brands and its 1-800-Flowers Consumer Floral business, including a strong Mother’s Day holiday period as well as increased demand for every-day gifting occasions. ♦ Total consolidated revenues for Fiscal 2020 are now expected to grow in a range of 16-to-18 percent, compared with the prior year, up from a previous range of 8-to-9 percent.

Unit sales of print books rose 10.9% in the week ended Feb. 20, 2021, over the comparable week in 2020, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The adult fiction category had a solid week, with unit sales up 20.5% over the week ended Feb. 22, 2020. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas was the top title, selling nearly 95,000 copies in its first week. In second and third place on the adult fiction list were two Kristin Hannah titles: The Four Winds, which sold more than 46,000 copies, and Firefly Lane, which sold more than 20,000 copies. YA fiction print unit sales jumped 47.7% over 2020, as E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars remained #1 on the category list, selling more than 15,000 copies. Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End was second, selling just over 11,000 copies. Stamped by Jason Reynolds continued to lead the YA nonfiction list as the category posted a 55.4% increase over 2020.

Print publications are facing many challenges, not the least of which is one caused by that old partner: The U.S. Postal Service. The USPS has issued a rule that allows it to revoke an audit bureau’s authority to validate requesters, according to the National Newspaper Association (NNA). Requester newspapers are those that have more than 50% of their circulations paid or requested. That includes paid single-copy sales. The USPS can withdraw the audit bureau’s authority if it finds that its procedures are inadequate.