Sales of adult trade books rose 1.8% in August, over August 2013, while sales in the children’s/young adult category jumped 20.9%, according to the AAP’s monthly StatShot program.
In the adult category, sales were up in trade paperback (1.9%), mass market paperback (6.0%), physical audiobooks (12.0%) and downloadable audio (36.8%), but fell in hardcover (down 1.5%) and e-books (off 2.1%). Sales were up in all formats in children’s/ya led by board books (52.6%) and e-books (38.8%).
The two trade areas were the bright spots for the industry in August, with sales down in all the other major categories.
For the first eight months of 2014, adult book sales were down 1.6%, as all formats but downloadable audio had declines. E-book sales had the smallest drop, off only 0.1% to $853.3 million. Trade paperback sales were down just 0.7%, to $860.4 million. Hardcover sales were off a more noticeable 7.2% through the eight months and mass market paperback sales were down 3.4%.
In children’s/ya, e-book sales were up 56.5% and hardcover sales jumped 47.1%. E-books accounted for 15.0% of all children’s/ya sales in the January-August period up from 12.0% in the same span in 2013. E-books’ share of adult sales rose to 29.7% in 2014 from 29.2% in the first eight months of 2013.
Figures are based on reports from 1,209 publishers.
