Sales of adult books fell 10.3% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first period of 2015, and sales of children’s/YA dipped 2.1%, according to figures released by the AAP’s StatShot program. Sales of e-books dropped 19% in the adult category in the quarter and declined 40.5% in the children’s/YA segment. E-books accounted for 27.1% of adult book sales in the 2016 quarter, down from 29.9% in the same period in 2015. E-books’ share of children’s/YA sales fell from 12.5% in the 2015 first quarter to 7.5%. In the adult category, sales fell in all but two formats: sales of downloadable audio rose 36.4% in the quarter, and trade paperback sales increased 1.5%. In the children’s/YA category, paperback sales were up 19.7% in the quarter but fell for board books (26%) and hardcover (2.7%). The StatShot figures are based on sales from 1,219 publishers from across the industry.
| Category | Change March | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard | -18.2% | -16.1% |
| Adult Paper | -0.9% | 1.5% |
| Mass Market | -18.8% | -25.5% |
| Physical Audio | -26.8% | -33.3% |
| Audio Download | 34.4% | 36.4% |
| Adult E-book | -18.6% | -19.0% |
| Children’s/YA | 6.8% | -2.1% |
| Religious Presses | 10.8% | 5.8% |
| Professional | -32.8% | -24.4% |
| K–12 Materials | 2.7% | 8.6% |
| Higher Ed. | 17.3% | 20.3% |
| University Presses | 16.8% | -4.6% |
(Comparisons of $ sales against same periods in 2015)
