Here’s another instalment of our blog mini-series on book to screen adaptations.
In our past instalments, we’ve looked at the impact of film or television series adaptations on Canadian sales and library circulation. 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).
It’s no surprise that 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.
Last time, we took a closer look at the Bridgerton series and the way these key dates impacted sales and library circulation. Today, we’re going to look at another example with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services.
Playing now — the TV series Maid and the book it’s based on: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land.
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, four ISBNs for Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land were analysed.
Without further ado!
The Maid effect
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land was first published in January 2019 and is classified under the BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women BISAC code. The book was an immediate success, appearing on the New York Times bestseller list.
The TV adaptation, Maid, premiered on Netflix in October 2021 to outstanding audience ratings and critical response — it has an average TV show rating of 8.5 (between IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic) and was nominated for numerous awards including the 2022 Golden Globe Awards.
Which important dates during the adaptation of Maid have impacted the sales and library circulation of this title?
The graphs below show the Canadian sales and library holds for Maid pre- and post-TV show release. Keep reading for a breakdown of all the key dates for Maid and its TV show in the sections below.
Sales for Maid from August 2019 to January 2022
LibraryData was launched in fourth quarter of 2019 and so the data below represents library circulation beginning in October 2019. 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 Maid from October 2019 to March 2022
Pre-release excitement
There were nearly two years between the TV show’s announcement its premiere. And looking at the Canadian sales and library holds for Maid, Canadian readers were on the edge of their seats:
Netflix announced that Maid would be adapted into a TV show at the end of November 2019. Library holds for Maid were up 88% in the same month, while sales saw their increase in December 2019 — up 69%.
Casting announcements for the TV show began in August 2020 and continued through November 2020 with sales for Maid up 7% during that time period and library holds increasing 20%.
Filming had begun by the end of September 2020, alongside a 5% increase in sales for Maid from August 2020.
By April 2021, filming had ended. In the same month, sales increased 125% and library holds for Maid were up 17% over March 2021.
A teaser trailer was released in August 2021 and the show’s full trailer was released in September 2021, with accompanying sales for Maid up 237%.
Premiere boost
Maid the TV show premiered on Netflix right at the beginning of October 2021.
During October, Maid sales continued to increase a significant 3,414%. Library holds for Maid were also up 44% over September 2021, but its popularity in the library was only beginning.
Post-release buzz
The real peak of Maid’s popularity in Canadians libraries came much later than the show’s release, and even later than the adaptation’s numerous 2021 Golden Globe nominations.
It’s not until January and February 2022 that we see big increases in library holds for Maid – soaring up 5,560% in January and another 331% in February.
Other important dates
A handful of other dates have also made an impact on sales and library circulation for Maid.
Having been first published in January 2019, Maid was still riding high off the waves of its initial release. It was first featured on former USA President Barack Obama’s summer reading list in 2019 and if the data shows anything, it’s that Maid continues to be a summertime favourite:
From May to August 2020, sales for Maid increased 425%, with a significant 613% increase in June.
From May to August 2021, sales for Maid increased 36%, with a significant 500% increase in July.
A paperback edition of Maid was also published January 2020, accompanied by a 44% increase in library holds.
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!
What did BookNet read in 2024? We’re sharing some tidbits of data about our team’s reading habits this year.