In the weeks after Netflix released the first season of Heartstopper in April 2022, weekly book sales across 11 countries rose by more than 76,000 copies. The jump was not a brief spike. Researchers say the increase was dramatic and sustained, pulling Alice Oseman's graphic novel series out of a specialist readership and into mainstream retail.
The findings come from a study by researchers at the University of Manchester and Princeton University, published on the preprint server SocArXiv. The team analyzed international sales data, online reader and viewer reviews, and UK book-buying trends to understand how the Netflix adaptation reshaped the reach of the series.
"The Netflix series did not simply amplify an existing audience," said Dr. Francesco Rampazzo, lecturer in social statistics and demography at the University of Manchester. "It brought in new readers and changed how the books traveled, from a specialist graphic-novel readership into mainstream young-adult, retail and family purchase contexts."
The study found that the effect extended well beyond English-speaking markets. Poland, Spain, Brazil and Mexico all saw substantial increases in book sales after the Netflix release. Researchers say this points to the role that local publishing, translation networks and retail infrastructure play in converting a streaming hit into lasting book-market demand.
"What is striking is that the same story travels across very different countries, but it does so through local infrastructures," said Kristopher Velasco, assistant professor of sociology at Princeton University. "Translation, retail channels and media visibility all matter for whether a screen adaptation turns into sustained book demand."
The researchers also looked at thousands of reader and viewer reviews to examine how audiences engaged with Heartstopper across the two formats. They found clear differences. Viewers discussing the Netflix series were far more likely to focus on themes of LGBTQ+ visibility and personal recognition. Book readers more often talked about recommending, gifting and sharing the series with others.
The researchers say this suggests that adaptations can change not only who consumes a story but how that story is understood and discussed in different contexts. The same narrative, they found, carried different cultural weight depending on whether a person encountered it on a screen or on a page.
The study adds to a growing body of research on how streaming platforms shape publishing markets globally. It also raises questions about what kinds of stories break through in which formats, and why certain adaptations produce lasting commercial effects while others fade quickly after a show's release.
