September Sales Strong

September was the best month for book sales in quite a while. According to estimates from the AAP, sales rose in every segment other than elhi in the month, with the children's hardcover category continuing to show the strongest gains as sales in September increased 62.1%. For the first nine months of the year, children's hardcover sales were up 56%. Adult hardcover, which has had an up-and-down year, posted a sales gain of 31.7% in September, although year-to-date sales were off 5.8%. The mass market paperback segment, which has also had a roller-coaster year, had a 27.9% sales increase in the month while sales in the January through September period were down 0.2%. The religion book segment had another good month with sales up 38.3%, pushing year-to-date sales up 32%. E-books continued to post big sales gains from a small base, with sales up 207.6% in September and ahead 219.5% in the first nine months of the year, to $4.1 million. Elhi sales were down 3.8% in September due to a combination of a 2.9% decline in basal text sales and a 7.6% drop in supplementary educational materials. For the nine months, elhi sales were up 2%.