MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
Aug 20 – 27, 2009 Edition Book Industry Trends 2009 Shows More Declines

NEW YORK, NY (AUTHORLINK NEWS, August 18, 2009)—Book industry growth slowed significantly, to 1.0 percent in 2008, according to the newly-released Book Industry Trends 2009. TRENDS is the authoritative resource for comprehensive and accurate statistics on the size and growth of the U.S. book industry, compiled by the Book Industry Study Group.

The report, which began shipping this month to the publishing industry, attributed the slow growth to “an extraordinary and difficult year for book publishing as it grappled with making changes to business models and processes in the face of the challenging U.S. and global economies and changing reader preferences.”

The industry revenue growth of just 1.0 percent, to $40.3 billion, notably lags estimates in previous TRENDS reports of 4.9 percent growth for 2007 and 3.1 percent growth in 2006.

Unit sales declined by 1.5 percent in 2008, as U.s. publishers sold 3.08 billion books, down from 3.1 billion in 2007. The BISG report predicts sales will be nearly flat through 2010, with only 1.5 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the forecast period.

The adult trade sector of the book publishing marketing, including fiction and certain nonfiction titles aimed at adult consumers, fell by 2.1 percent to $14.7 billion in 2008. Sales in 2009 are expected to grow only 0.5 percent (to $14.8 billion). However, growth is expected to pick up in 2010 to 2.2 percent to net sales of $15.1 billion.

Total trade book unit sales also declined, at a 1.9 percent rate between 20007 and 2008. Adult trade unit sales growth also declined, falling 2.3 percent in 2008 to 1.35 billion units. Juvenile trade books experienced a slight decline in net sales revenues of 1.3 percent, with the total reaching $3.6 billion in 2008. Unit sales growth for juvenile books was also down 1.3 percent in 2008 to 889 million.

According to the report, juvenile trade will continue to be flat between 2009 and 2010, with total net sales revenues declining 0.3 percent in 2009 to just under $3.6 billion, and growing 1.5 percent to top $3.6 billion in 2010, and with unit sales following the same growth pattern.

Copies of the full report can be ordered here: Book Industry TRENDS 2009