Category % Change March % Change YTD
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2005)
* Number of reporting companies.
Despite some reports that returns in the trade market have been down, monthly estimates from the AAP show reduced returns in only one category through the first quarter—adult hardcover where returns were down 0.3%. Mass market paperback returns were up only 1.1%, but several other categories had double-digit increases. In education, the expected softness in the elhi segment for 2006 was seen in a 4.7% decline in sales through the quarter. With state adoptions down, sales of basal textbooks were off 8.7% in the quarter, although sales of supplementary materials rose 3.6%.
Adult Hard (17)* -9.6% -10.3%
Adult Paper (18) 18.7 20.8
Mass Market (9) 0.0 15.1
Juvenile Hard (13) 23.3 -7.3
Juvenile Paper (13) -5.0 13.5
Audio (10) 2.8 3.5
Electronic (8) 61.3 33.8
Religious (5) 0.0 -21.9
Higher Ed. (13) -27.7 7.4
Univ. Pr. Hard (38) -10.8 -25.7
Univ. Pr. Paper (37) 21.9 133.0
Professional (9) 30.2 16.7
Elhi (9) 1.8 -4.7