MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
October 9 – 16, 2008 Edition
Book Sales
Up for August
AAP Reports
NEW YORK, NY (Authorink, Oct. 8, 2008)–Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of August increased by 0.6 percent at $1.5 billion but were down by 1.4 percent for the year.
The Adult Hardcover category was up by 9.2 percent in August with sales of $100.9 million; year-to-date sales were down by 3.6 percent. Adult Paperback sales increased 1.8 percent for the month ($147.4 million) and increased by 9.5 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category was down by 4.5 percent for August with sales totaling $70.1 million; sales were up by 2.1 percent year-to-date. The Childrens/YA Hardcover category saw a decrease of 9.3 percent for the month with sales of $96.4 million; sales for year-to-date dropped by 35.5 percent. The Childrens/YA Paperback category was up 18.4 percent in August with sales totaling $69.4 million, reflecting an increase of 14.1 percent for the year.
Audio Book sales posted a decrease of 6.9 percent in August, with sales totaling $11.9 million; sales for the whole year were down by 26.8 percent. E-books sales jumped up by 82.9 percent for the month ($4.3 million); the category also posted an increase of 52.0 percent for the year. Religious Books saw a decrease of 10.8 percent for the month with sales totaling $61.1 million; sales were also down by 7.7 percent for the year.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books dropped 17.8 percent in August with sales of $6.4 million; sales decreased by 6.4 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales also posted a decrease of 13.9 percent for the month with sales totaling $9.8 million; sales were down 7.6 percent for the year. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category were up by 3.0 percent in August ($99.8 million) but decreased by 1.0 percent for the year.
Higher Education publishing sales increased by 0.6 percent for the month ($826.0 million) and increased 3.2 percent for the year. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted a decrease of 16.6 percent in August with sales of $741.5 million; the category was down by 1.7 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
