Sales of adult trade books fell 11.8% in September compared to September 2013, according to AAP’s monthly StatShot program. Sales dropped in all three adult print segments, while e-book sales rose 0.5%. The children’s/young adult segment posted an 8.8% gain in September, with e-book sales up 27.7% and paperback sales rising 12.4%. For the first nine months of 2014, sales in the segment rose 22.4% over the comparable period of 2013. E-books accounted for 14.2% of sales in the children’s/young adult in the first nine months of 2014, up from 11.4% in the same period in 2013. In the adult trade category, sales for the nine months were down 3.3%, with sales off in all print formats and down 0.1% in e-books. E-books accounted for 29% of adult trade book sales in the first three quarters of 2014, compared to 28.1% in the same period last year. For the 1,209 publishers that report to AAP, sales were down 0.2% in September, but up 4.9% in the nine-month period.

Category Change September YTD
Adult Hard -20.4% -9.9%
Adult Paper -6.5% -2.0%
Mass Market -30.3% -6.4%
Physical Audio -12.7% -13.5%
Audio Download 20.6% 27.0%
Adult E-book 0.5% -0.1%
Children’s/YA 8.8% 22.4%
Religious Presses 3.0% 2.1%
Professional 18.6% 0.1%
K–12 Materials -8.9% 13.2%
Higher Ed. 17.1% 2.8%
University Presses -2.2.% -2.1%

(Comparisons of $ sales against same periods in 2013)