More year-end book sales data continues to roll in, with the latest coming from Bookstat. The service collects online sales data in real time from Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble across the print book, e-book, and digital audiobook formats. According to Bookstat, total online sales rose 5.6% in 2022, to $12.13 billion, while unit sales increased 6.6%, to 1.12 billion.
The largest gain in the year was for audiobook sales, which jumped 22% over 2021, to $3.04 billion. For a second year, audiobook sales topped that of e-books, where sales increased 6%, to $2.57 billion. Though sales of print books dipped 0.6%, the format was still the largest by far, with online sales of $6.52 billion.
The most popular format in terms of units was e-books, with unit sales rising 8% in 2022, to 526 million. Unit sales of audiobooks increased 23%, to 188 million units, and print unit sales fell 1.3%, to 403 million.
The discrepancy between the high number of units sold compared to dollar sales of e-books is, of course, price. According to Bookstat, self-published titles, many with prices of $2.99 or lower, accounted for 51% of all unit sales and 34% of revenue in 2022. Based on Bookstat numbers, self-published authors generated approximately $874 million in e-book sales in 2022.
Bookstat estimates that it covers 93% of all U.S. e-book sales, 95% of audiobook sales, and 93% of online print book sales. Bookstat evolved out of founder and CEO Paul Abbassi’s Authors Earnings Report, which began by collecting e-book sales data, eventually adding the capability to track online sales of print titles and digital audiobooks. Abbassi sold the service to Podium Audio last year, and remains head of the company, while Podium has committed more resources to expand and improve the service.
In addition to gathering total sales, Bookstat offers up bestseller lists. Below are separate the top 10 lists for 2022 in print, e-book, and formats.
Print Top 10 for 2022 by unit sales:
- It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
- Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
- Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (1-7) by J.K. Rowling
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
- It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
- Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by American Psychiatric Association
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
E-book Top 10 for 2022 by unit sales:
- It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
- Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
- The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
- The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham
- Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout Book 1) by Lucy Score
Audiobook Top 10 for 2022 by unit sales:
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, written and narrated by James Clear
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, narrated by Cassandra Campbell
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, written and narrated by Brené Brown
- Greenlights, written and narrated by Matthew McConaughey
- It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, narrated by Olivia Song
- Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins, narrated by David Goggins, Adam Skolnick
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan, Robin Miles
- I’m Glad My Mom Died, written and narrated by Jennette McCurdy
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson, narrated by Roger Wayne
- Fairy Tale by Stephen King, narrated by Seth Numrich, Stephen King Online