Sales in the adult trade segment were up 3.1% in the first six months of 2015 over 2014, while sales of children’s/young adult books fell 12.3% in the same period, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers‘ StatShot program.
The increase in sales of adult books was led by a strong performance of trade paperbacks where sales were up 15.1%, an increase that offset declines in hardcover (6.2%), mass market paperback (5.6%) and e-books (3.1%). The audio segment also had a good first six months, with downloadable audio sales ahead 34.6% and physical sales rising 5.4%.
The decline in the children’s/young adult category was due to steep drops in e-book sales (45.5%) and hardcover (20.5%). Sales of board book increased 18.3%. The decline in the segment, particularly in e-book, was blamed on the strong sales last year of Divergent and Frozen titles.
Sales figures are based on reports from a total of over 1,200 publishers. Sales for all categories—including religion, education and professional—fell 4.1% in the six month period compared to last year.
