Trade sales at the 1,277 publishers that report financial results to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program rose 3.9% in the first six months of 2024, to $3.9 billion, over the comparable period in 2023. A 6.7% increase in sales of adult books offset a 2.7% decline in the sales of children’s and young adult titles.
Total sales for the publishers were up 5.6%, to $6.3 billion, in the first half of the year. The religion category continued hot with sales up 15.6% in the first six months, while sales of higher education materials climbed 8%. Sales in the professional books segment dropped 1.1%. Beginning with June, the PreK-12 instructional materials segment was combined with the “all other” category due to what the AAP called “participation thresholds” concerns. Revenue in the all other category was up 9.6% in the first half of the year.
Looking at the trade segments, sales in both adult categories rose in the first half of 2024, with fiction up 11.3% and nonfiction increasing 1.6%. Digital audio sales jumped 20.4% in the period and at $435 million overtook e-book sales, which rose 3.9% to $432.4 million. Combined, the two digital formats accounted for 30.6% of adult sales up from 29.3% a year ago. Hardcover and trade paperback sales rose 4.5% and 7%, respectively.
The nonfiction category took the biggest hit in the children’s/YA category with sales down 6.2%, while sales in the much larger fiction segment dipped 2%. Digital audio had a solid six months with total sales in children’s/YA up 17.2%. Hardcover sales fell 4.4% and paperback sales dropped 2.9%.
The sales increase reported by the AAP dovetails with the six-month improvement reported earlier this year by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, and Penguin Random House, all of whom report data to the AAP.
