How to Sell Books in 2020: Put Them Near the Toilet Paper

How to Sell Books in 2020: Put Them Near the Toilet Paper

Book sales jumped at big box stores this spring, which stayed open and stocked with essentials while other shops closed.

When bookstores closed, big box stores “” which also sell books “” stayed open.Credit...Chris Delmas/Agence France-Presse “” Getty ImagesJuly 22, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET

If you want to sell books during a pandemic, it turns out that one of the best places to do it is within easy reach of eggs, milk and diapers.

When the coronavirus forced the country into lockdown this spring, stores like Walmart and Target, which were labeled essential, remained open. So when anxious consumers were stocking up on beans and pasta, they were also grabbing workbooks, paperbacks and novels “” and the book sales at those stores shot up.

"They sell groceries, they sell toilet paper, they sell everything people need during this time, and they're open,“ said Suzanne Herz, the publisher of Vintage/Anchor. "If you're in there and you're doing your big shop and you walk down the aisle and go, 'Oh, we're bored, and we need a book or a puzzle.' There it is.“

Big box stores do not generally break out how much they sell of particular products, but people across the publishing industry say that sales