MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
November 6 – November 13, 2008 Edition
Book Sales Down
for September,
AAP Reports
NEW YORK, NY (Authorlink News, November 5, 2008)– Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of September decreased by 2.0 percent at $1.062 billion and were down by 1.5 percent for the year.
The Adult Hardcover category was down by 29.8 percent in September with sales of $173.3 million; year-to-date sales were down by 9.2 percent. Adult Paperback sales decreased 8.6 percent for the month ($134.7 million) but increased by 6.9 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category was down 8.3 percent for September with sales totaling $67.4 million; sales were up by 0.8 percent year-to-date. The Childrens/YA Hardcover category saw an increased jump of 41.9 percent for the month with sales of $119.8 million; sales for year-to-date dropped by 26.3 percent. The Childrens/YA Paperback category was down 19.1 percent in September with sales totaling $51.5 million, although sales increased by 8.8 percent for the year.
Audio Book sales posted a decrease of 12.3 percent in September with sales totaling $18.7 million; sales for the whole year were down by 24.7 percent. E-books sales jumped up by 77.8 percent for the month ($5.1 million), reflecting an increase of 55.2 percent for the year. Religious Books saw a decrease of 11.8 percent for the month with sales totaling $76.8 million; sales were also down by 8.9 percent for the year.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books dropped 3.6 percent in September with sales of $6.3 million; sales decreased by 6.1 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales posted an increase of 4.4 percent for the month with sales totaling $6.5 million; sales were down 6.5 percent for the year. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category were up by 6.8 percent in September ($60.5 million) but decreased by 1.0 percent for the year.
Higher Education publishing sales posted an increase of 18.4 percent for the month ($338.2 million) and increased 4.9 percent for the year. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted a decrease of 17.6 percent in September with sales of $325.1 million; the category was down by 3.3 percent for the year.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAPs more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societiessmall and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Associations highest priorities.
NOTE: All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales
