The religious segment continued to be the hottest category in the industry in April with sales up 54.9%, according to monthly estimates from the AAP. Sales for the first four months of the year were up 34.2%. The elhi segment continued to do better than expected with sales ahead 17.6% in April led by a 21.1% increase in sales of basal texts; supplementary sales were ahead 8.7%. The higher education segment, however, had another poor month with sales down 67% in May and off 26.4% for the year to date. The professional publishing segment had its best month of the year, with sales jumping 36.6%. Sales in the trade paperback segment rose 16.8%, while adult hardcover sales rose 8.3%.
Sales Mixed in April
| CATEGORY | % CHANGE APRIL | % CHANGE YTD |
| (Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2003) | ||
| Adult Hardcover | 8.3 | 16.6 |
| Adult Paperback | 16.8 | 4.5 |
| Adult Mass Market | -25.2 | -20.2 |
| Juvenile Hardcover | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| Juvenile Paperback | 0.3 | 10.0 |
| Audio Books | -2.5 | 23.8 |
| Electronic Books | -21.4 | 73.1 |
| Religious Books | 54.9 | 34.2 |
| Higher Education | -67.0 | -26.4 |
| Univ. Pr. Hardcover | 2.1 | -5.4 |
| Univ. Pr. Paperback | -45.1 | -17.7 |
| Professional | 36.6 | -0.1 |
| School Texts | 17.6 | 9.3 |
