Category % Change March % Change YTD
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2002)
Although sales were down for most trade categories in March, other segments posted gains, according to monthly estimates from the AAP. The strongest performer among the major book segments was elhi, which had a 20% increase in sales. The gain was led by a 36.1% increase in basal sales that offset a 9.7% decline in supplemental sales. The religious books segment had a 16% gain in the month, while Bible sales increased 55.4%. In audio books, reported sales of $9.3 million was a major improvement over March 2002, when returns exceeded sales. Returns, however, were very heavy in the adult hardcover, trade paperback and children's paperback segments and played a major role in driving down net sales in March in those three categories. In the first three months of the year, sales were down in every trade segment, while the largest gain among the major categories was the 10.3% increased in the elhi segment.
Adult Hardcover -11.6 -23.5
Adult Paperback 4.9 -6.7
Adult Mass Market -6.1 -9.8
Juvenile Hardcover -11.5 -24.4
Juvenile Paperback -4.8 -1.6
Audio Books NA -20.8
Electronic Books 97.2 81.3
Bibles, etc. 55.4 33.5
Other Religious 16.0 15.2
Higher Education -45.2 -0.1
University Press Hardcover 4.5 35.2
University Press Paperback 7.7 11.7
Total Professional -7.1 4.0
Elhi 20.0 10.3
Other -44.5 -35.4