Audiobooks and e-books had the strongest September among publishing categories with sales of audio downloads up 18.9%, while sales of physical audio rose 13.1% and adult e-book sales increased 30.6%. For the first nine months of 2012, adult e-book sales were up 36.2%, to $961.1 million, while audio downloads hit $89.1 million at publishers that report to AAP's StatShot program. Sales in the children's/young adult segment fell 4.2% in September as a 44.4% increase in e-book sales was offset by declines in hardcover and paperback. For the nine-month period, sales in the segment were up 23.9% as e-book sales jumped 177%, to $190.6 million, and hardcover sales rose 24% to $545.8 million at houses that report to AAP. The educational segments had a bad September and the K-12 materials category in particular is headed to a weak 2012 with sales off 18.8% through September. StatShot figures are based on reports from 1,186 publishers.
| Category | % Change September | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard | 3.1% | -1.5 |
| Adult Paper | -8.7 | 7.8 |
| Mass Market | -14.6 | -16.1 |
| Physical Audio | 13.1 | -2.6 |
| Audio Download | 18.9 | 27.9 |
| Adult E-book | 30.6 | 36.2 |
| Children’s/YA | -4.2 | 23.9 |
| Religious Presses | -8.3 | -7.0 |
| Professional | -24.3 | -4.8 |
| K-12 Materials | -41.8 | -18.8 |
| Higher Ed. | -10.5 | -3.7 |
| University Presses | 4.4 | 8.7 |
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2011)
