CATEGORY % CHANGE February YTD
Adult Hard 24.4% 21.9
Adult Paper -3.3 0.9
Mass Market -4.3 -14.7
Physical Audio 8.1 6.1
Audio Download 19.0 22.1
Adult ebook 9.9 27.1
Childrens/YA 73.0 74.6
Religious Presses 3.5 7.9
Professional -5.7 1.0
K-12 Materials -12.6 -15.9
Higher Ed. 36.1 3.9
University Presses 2.6 9.3


(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2011)

The children’s/YA segment was the star in February as sales in the category rose 73.0%, according to the AAP Monthly StatShot, which tabulates results from 1,191 total publishers. Sales were up significantly in hardcover and paperback while e-book sales jumped 177.8%, accounting for about 16% of children’s/YA sales at reporting publishers. Gains in the month were driven by the the Hunger Games series as well as Dr. Seuss books, which received a bounce from The Lorax film. The small e-book rise in adult e-books was attributed mainly to a large one-off sale recorded in February 2011. Still, in the month e-book sales generated more revenue than the hardcover and mass market paperback segments from reporting companies; the sales decline in mass market slowed to only 4.3% in February as returns were down substantially. In religion, the February increase of 3.5% was led by e-book sales and solid hardcover gains that offset a drop in paperback sales.