August sales of adult trade books slipped by 0.3% from August 2016, according to AAP’s StatShot program. The two major print formats, hardcover and trade paperback, had slightly lower sales, and mass market paperback sales were 10.6% higher. Downloadable audio had another good month, with sales up 25%, but sales of physical audio were down 12.5%. E-book sales from reporting publishers were 7.9% lower. In the children’s/YA segment, overall sales were 2.9% higher than in August 2016, partly due to a 6.6% increase in hardcover sales; sales of board books were up 4.2%, and e-book sales were down 2.9%. Sales for all 1,204 publishers reporting to AAP were 1.5% lower in August than in the same month last year.
For the first eight months of 2017, sales in the adult book segment were 1% higher than in the comparable period in 2016. Sales in the children’s/YA segment were down 2.5%, with hardcover sales falling 8.3%, but board books were up 9%. Sales for all publishers reporting to AAP were 0.6% lower in the first eight months of the year.
| Category | Chage August | Change YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard | -1.5% | 8.6% |
| Adult Paper | -0.8% | -0.8% |
| Mass Market | 10.6% | -11.8% |
| Physical Audio | -12.5% | -6.5% |
| Audio Download | 25% | 25% |
| Adult E-book | -7.9% | -5.4% |
| Children’s/YA | 2.9% | -2.5% |
| Religious Presses | 7.8% | -0.6% |
| Professional | 36.3% | 3.5% |
| K–12 Materials | -4.9% | -3.2% |
| Higher Ed. | -4.1% | -0.1% |
| University Presses | 9.8% | 4.2% |
(Comparisons of $ sales against same periods in 2016)
