After increasing by “only” 118% in June, e-book sales jumped 150.2%, to $40.8 million, at the 14 publishers that report e-book sales in July. Sales for the first seven months of the year were up 191%, to $219.5 million. The $40.8 million in e-book sales generated in July came within $20 million of the July sales generated by the nine mass market paperback publishers that reported results to the Association of American Publishers. The e-book gains also came in a month where all print trade segments reported a decline in sales.
In the audio market, sales of traditional audiobooks (mostly CDs) fell 35.6%, to $8.7 million, in July at the 21 reporting companies, while sales of downloadable audio rose 38.4%, to $6.6 million, from the seven companies that reported figures.
