Fueled by the Fifty Shades trilogy, sales of adult trade books rose 18.2 percent in July, according to AAP's just released StatShot figures. In the month, e-book sales increased 47.4 percent while trade paperback sales rose 49.7 percent, the two formats that have benefited the most from Shades. Sales of hardcovers were down 14.1 percent and mass market paperback sales fell 20.5 percent at the houses that report sales to AAP. E-book revenue was $120.1 million in July topped only by trade paperback's $145.4 million.
Without a big hit, sales in the children/young adult segment fell 9.5 percent in July as all print segments posted declines, while e-book sales rose 89.9 percent. In the religion segment, July sales were down 5.0 percent.
Sales are based on reports from 1,182 publishers.
