Must-watch, must-read: The Bridgerton effect

We’ve proven it with data: when a book is adapted into a film or television series, the book sells!

@BookNet_Canada shares insights into how the adaptation of the Bridgerton series has impacted sales and/or library circulation.
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That’s what we’ve discovered so far in our blog mini-series on book to screen adaptations and we’ll share even more in our upcoming study on the topic later this year (sign up for the research newsletter to be notified when it’s released).

But there’s a lot more involved in a book to screen adaptation than just putting the text onto the screen — there’s press releases, casting announcements, filming announcement, trailer releases, premieres, and more.

In the next instalments of this mini-series, we’re going to take a look at the effect of these and other important dates on the sales and library circulation of specific book to screen adaptations with data from our SalesData and LibraryData services.

First up — Bridgerton and the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn.


About the data

SalesData and LibraryData store ISBNs differently. While SalesData gathers data for each individual ISBN, LibraryData uses ISBN clusters. These ISBN clusters may contain any number of ISBNs related to one title or to a series of books.

In order to compare Canadian book sales and Canadian library circulation, the ISBNs related to each film adaptation were taken first from LibraryData clusters. This same list of ISBNs was then used to gather data from SalesData.

Just like in the other instalments of this blog mini-series, if a film was related to a series of books, all titles in the series were considered together. For this instalment, we analyzed 56 ISBNs from the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn.

And now, our feature presentation.


The Bridgerton effect

The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn includes eight books published between 2000 and 2006 that have been classified under the FICTION / Women BISAC code, as well as FICTION / Romance and FICTION / Historical.

The TV adaptation of the series, Bridgerton, premiered on Netflix in December 2020 to wide audience appeal and critical acclaim — it has an average TV show rating of 7.2 (between IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic) and its first season was nominated for numerous awards including the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards.

What key dates during the adaptation of the Bridgerton series have impacted the sales and/or library circulation of these titles?

The graphs below show the Canadian sales and library holds for the Bridgerton series pre- and post-TV show release. And we break down all the important dates for the Bridgerton series and TV show in the sections below.


Sales for the Bridgerton series from April 2018 to March 2021

A line graph representing the rise of sales for the Bridgerton series from April 2018 to March 2021

LibraryData was launched in fourth quarter of 2019 and so the data below represents library circulation beginning in January 2020. Since a library’s ability to circulate titles is ultimately limited by the number of copies it has in its collection, this data is for library holds, rather than library loans, as they can show a clearer picture of library book borrowers' interest in a particular title.

Library holds for the Bridgerton series from January 2020 to March 2021

A line graph representing the rise of library holds for the Bridgerton series from January 2020 to March 2021

Pre-release excitement

With over two years from the TV show’s announcement to its release, anticipation for Bridgerton was building and so were the Canadian sales and library holds for the Bridgerton series:

  • Netflix announced that the Bridgerton series would be adapted into a TV show in July 2018. Sales increases for the series followed, with sales up 5% in July and 65% in August 2018.

  • Casting announcements for the TV show began in June 2019 and sales for the Bridgerton series also increased 95% in the same month.

  • July 2019 saw a continuation of casting announcements and the beginning of filming, with accompanying sales up another 53% from June 2019.

  • A teaser trailer for the show was released at the beginning of November 2020. In November 2020, Bridgerton series sales increased 64% and library holds increased 85% from October 2020.

Premiere boost

December 2020 was a big month, with the release of the TV show’s trailer and the premiere of the first season of the show on Netflix.

In this month, sales for the Bridgerton series increased a significant 1,039% and library holds were also up 32% from November 2020.

Post-release buzz

By January 2021, Bridgerton was making headlines. In late January 2021:

  • Netflix announced that the show was renewed for a second season;

  • Netflix announced that Bridgerton was Netflix’s most-watched series ever to date; and

  • Netflix released a thank-you video to fans of the series.

During this month, sales for the Bridgerton series increased 73% and library holds were up another 21% from December 2020. This buzz continued into February, with sales continuing to increase 221%.

Other important dates

These aren’t the only dates important for Bridgerton.

Fans will know that between April 2018 to March 2021, two titles were published by Julia Quinn that act as prequels to the Bridgerton series:

  • The Other Miss Bridgerton was released in November 2018, with a 65% increase in Bridgerton series sales from October 2018.

  • First Comes Scandal was released in April 2020, with a 632% increase in Bridgerton series sales from and a 32% increase in Bridgerton series library holds from March 2020.

The holiday season is a time of year where the Canadian book industry consistently sees a big boost in sales. Year over year, we also see this trend with the Bridgerton series:

  • In 2018, sales for the series increased 25% over the fourth quarter of the year.

  • In 2019, sales for the series were up 134% from October to December.

 

Curious for more data on book to screen adaptations? Keep your eyes peeled on our blog and sign up for the research newsletter to be the first to know about our upcoming research studies.

Stay tuned!