All categories posted sales increases in October over 2020, according to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot report.
Total revenue from the 1,368 publishers that report sales to AAP increased 23.1% in October led by the K-12 instructional materials category, where sales jumped 91.9%, while sales in the higher educational materials category rose 42.8%. Gains in the education segments reflect an overall rebound in spending on materials over last fall when the pandemic cut spending. In the K-12 segment, purchases by adoption states were particularly strong in October.
The trade categories had solid gains in the month, with adult book sales up 17.2% over October 2020 and sales in the children’s/young adult category increasing 13.7%. Religious press segment sales increased 29.4%.
Within adult trade, trade paperback sales rose 36% in the month, and all print formats had sales gains. E-book sales fell 5.8% in the month. In children’s/YA paperback, paper sales led the way, with sales up 36.7% in October.
The strong October performance by the educational segments meant that sales in both categories are now ahead of sales for the first 10 months of 2021. Higher educational sales were up 1.4% and K-12 sales, which are far ahead of 2020, rose 35.4% in the year to date.
Adult book sales were up 13.9% in the first 10 months of the year and children’s/YA sales increased 14.6%. For all segments, sales in the 10-month period were up 13.7%.
