Sales of adult trade books rose 5.3% in November over 2020 and children’s/young adult book sales increased 9.8%, according to the newest figures from AAP’s StatShot program. Sales for all 1,369 publishers that report data to AAP were up 8.3% over November 2020.
In adult books, mass market paperback sales jumped 56.2% in November helping to offset a 1.2% decline in hardcover sales. In the children’s/YA category, paperback sales drove the gains, up 14.5%. Overall, downloadable audio sales jumped 22.1%, and e-book sales rose 5.6%.
The two education segments continued to enjoy a rebound year after a difficult 2020. Sales of K-12 instructional materials rose 25.9% in the month, while sales in the higher educational course materials category were up 22.2%. University press sales increased 11%.
There were some down numbers. November sales fell 6% in the religious book category, and were down 3.2% in the professional book category.
Through November, total sales rose 13.1% over the comparable period in 2020. Sales of adult books were up 12.8% and sales in the children’s/ya category increased 13.6%.
