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Oct 11 – Oct 17, 2010 Edition Book Sales Up 6.9 Percent Year to Date, says AAP
New York, NY, October 14, 2010 Publishers book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of August increased 3.4 percent on the prior year to $1.6 billion and were up by 6.9 percent for the year to date.
The childrens book category showed decreases over August of last year, with Hardcover Childrens/YA sales down 8.0 percent for the month with sales of $77.8 million, year-to-date sales are down by 14.6 percent. Childrens/YA Paperback sales decreased 15.1 percent in August with sales totaling $58.9 million; sales fell 7.6 percent for the year to date.
The Adult Hardcover category was down 24.4 percent in August with sales of $83.8 million, although sales for the year-to-date are up by 5.2 percent. Adult Paperback sales decreased 18.3 percent for the month ($124.9 million) but increased by 4.1 percent for the year. Adult Mass Market sales decreased 21.9 percent for August with sales totaling $54.9 million; sales were down by 14.3 percent year to date.
Downloaded Audio Books also saw an increase of 4.6 percent over last year, with sales of $6.3 million in August; and the category also rose 28.8 percent year-to-date. Physical Audio Book sales decreased 23.4 percent in August with sales totaling $9.9 million; sales for the year to date are down 6.0 percent.
Religious Books decreased 0.4 percent for the month with sales totaling $58.1 million, sales were down by 0.3 percent for the year to date.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books were up 10.2 percent in August to $6.1 million; sales increased by 5.4 percent year-to-date. University Press Paperback posted an increase of 15.7 percent for the month with sales totaling $10.1 million, sales were up 4.7 percent for the year. Sales of Professional books rose 14.5 percent to $102.7 million and were up by 10.7 percent for the year to date.
Higher Education publishing sales grew 11.8 percent for the month ($969.7 million) and increased 12.4 percent for the year. Finally, the K-12 elementary/high school category posted total net sales of $629.6 million, down 4.9% percent over the prior year, and year-to-date sales of $2.9 billion, an 8.0 percent increase over 2009.
Year To Date E-Book Sales Comprise 9.0% of Trade Book Sales
Trade book sales (not including books for academic study) for the period of January-August 2010 had sales of $2.91 billion. eBook sales in the same period were $263 million.. E books for the period comprise 9.03% of total consumer book sales, compared to 3.31 percent at the close of 2009.
E book sales for January-August 2010 represented $263 million, compared to $89.8 million from January-August 2009, representing an overall increase for the category of 193% over the same period last year. For the month of August, e-book sales continue to grow, with a 172.4 percent increase over August 2009 ($39.0 million).
About AAP
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 societies. 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.
