Adult trade books had a soft September, according to the newest figures from AAP’s monthly StatShot program. Sales in the segment fell 11.8%, compared to September 2013. Sales dropped in all three print segments, with mass market paperback sales down 30.3% and hardcover off 20.4%. E-book sales rose 0.5%.
The children’s/young adult segment posted an 8.8% sales gain in September with e-book sales up 27.7% and paperback sales rising 12.4%. The increase in September sales in the children’s/young adult segment was lower than the double-digit monthly increase posted by the segment for much of 2014. Still, for the first nine months of 2014, sales in the segment rose 22.4% over the comparable period of 2013, led by a 52.7% increase in e-book sales and a 33.6% gain in board books.
In the adult category, sales for the nine months were down 3.3% with sales off in all print formats and down 0.1% in e-books. E-books accounted for 29.0% of adult trade book sales through September 2014 compared to 28.1% in the same period last year. The format accounted for 14.2% of sales in the children’s/young adult in the first nine months of 2014, up from 11.4% in the same period in 2013.
For the 1,209 publishers that report to AAP, sales were down 0.2% in September, but up 4.9% in the nine-month period.
