Sales of adult trade books rose 9.5% last November over November 2014 at the trade houses that report figures to AAP’s monthly StatShot program. The increase was led by a 31.4% jump in sales of trade paperbacks (the format for adult coloring books) and a 27.1% rise in sales of downloadable audio. Adult e-book sales fell 14.9%. For the first 11 months of 2015, sales of adult trade titles were up 3.1% again, led by the trade paperback (up 16.1%) and downloadable audio (up 40.3%) categories. November sales in the children’s and young adult segment rose 7.9%, driven by a 55.4% jump in board book sales, which offset a 28% drop in e-book sales. Sales in the first 11 months of 2015 in the segment were down 3.8% compared to the same period in 2014. Sales for all 1,205 publishers that reported results to the AAP were up 1.8% in November, but were down 2.6% in the January–November period. Aside from the 3.1% sales increase in the adult trade segment, the only other category in which sales were up in the first 11 months of 2015 was religious presses, which had a 0.9% gain from reporting publishers.
| Category | Change Nov. | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard | 12.0% | 0.1% |
| Adult Paper | 31.4% | 16.1% |
| Mass Market | -5.7% | -12.5% |
| Physical Audio | -12.0% | -2.2% |
| Audio Download | 27.1% | 40.3% |
| Adult E-book | -14.9% | -7.3% |
| Children’s/YA | 7.9% | -3.8% |
| Religious Presses | 10.2% | 0.9% |
| Professional | -9.6% | -4.7% |
| K–12 Materials | 7.5% | -4.4% |
| Higher Ed. | -18.0% | -7.4% |
| University Presses | 11.9% | -1.8% |
(Comparisons of $ sales against same periods in 2014)
