Fears that a surge in sales of new digital reading devices over the holidays would result in plunging print trade sales in January proved unfounded, according to AAP’s newly revised monthly sales report. According to the report, sales in the adult hardcover and trade paperback segments rose by 21.6% and 6.1%, respectively, in the month while sales in the children & young adult hardcover category jumped 68.9% and children’s paperback sales soared 61.9%, helped no doubt by sales of The Hunger Games. The only trade print segment to decline in January was mass market paperback where sales fell 22.5%. As for e-books, sales of adult titles rose 49.4%, while e-book sales in the children & young adult segment shot up 475%.
The AAP attributed the strong print performance to an improving economy, lower returns due to the absence of Borders (returns in adult hardcover, for example, were down 17%) and good performances at the surviving bricks-and-mortar stores. The jump in children’s/YA e-book sales was aided by an increase in sales of color digital devices.
The new AAP monthly report, dubbed Monthly StatShot, includes sales from 1,149 publishers, substantially more than reported to the old program that never had more than 100 reporting companies. The information is also broken down into many more sub-segments than the old report.
Outside of the print trade categories, physical audio sales rose 0.8% in January, while digital downloads rose 29.4%. Total sales in the religion segment rose 9.9% led by a 150.7% increase in in e-book sales while hardcover sales rose 2.9% and paperback fell 10.3%.
Sales in the professional segment rose 6.3%, and 12.3% in the university press category. Sales of K-12 instructional materials fell 19.7% in the month, while sales in the higher education category increased 1.8%.
