Category % Change May % Change YTD
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2001)
With the exception of the adult hardcover and university press hardcover categories, which had sales declines of 15% and 19%, respectively, in May, all other publishing categories had gains in the month, according to AAP's preliminary sales estimates. The largest gain was posted by the children's hardcover segment, where sales rose 55.5% over May 2001. Sales in the trade paperback segment also had a large increase, up 45.1%. Other double-digit sales gains were turned in by the audio books, professional and college segments. Gains in both adoption states and open territories resulted in a 6.9% increase in the el-hi segment. For the first five months of the year, the adult hardcover segment had the largest increase over the comparable 2001 period, with sales up 35.3%; sales in the trade paperback segment were ahead 24.7%. In the children's segment, hardcover sales were up 29.4% for the first five months of the year, while paperback sales were up 20.5%. The only category where sales fell in the year-to-date was university press hardcover, with sales off 9.2%.
Adult Hardcover -15.0 35.3
Adult Paperback 45.1 24.7
Juvenile Hardcover 55.5 29.4
Juvenile Paperback 4.1 20.5
Audio Books 26.2 34.3
Univ. Pr. Hardcover -19.0 -9.2
Univ. Pr. Paperback 6.0 7.1
Mass Market Paperback 1.1 14.3
Professional 14.2 5.3
College Texts 23.0 19.3
School Texts 6.9 2.0