Trade sales in May saw some wild swings, according to AAP’s monthly StatShot program. In the adult books segment there was a decline of 5.0%, compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, sales in children’s/young adult fell 9.3%.
Within the adult category, mass market paperback sales plunged 40.3%, while hardcover sales fell 17.3%. E-book sales fell 4.4%. Bright spots were digital audio, where sales jumped 62.4%, and trade paperback, which had a 16.5% increase.
In children’s/ya, e-book sales tumbled 53.5% and hardcover sales dropped 18.9%. Paperback sales were up 17.4%.
For the first five months of 2015, adult book sales were up 1.5% over the same period last year, while children’s/ya sales were off 14.2%. In the adult segment, e-book sales were down 3.7%. Also in adult, mass market paperbacks were down 4.2%, and hardcovers were down 5.0%. Trade paperback sales were up 11.7%, and digital audio sales rose 42.0%. In children’s/ya, e-book sales were off 43.3% in the year-to-date period and off 22.4% in hardcover. Paperback sales rose 2.4%.
Results are based on responses from 1,207 publishers.
