According to AAP’s StatShot report, adult book sales fell 2.2% in November compared to a year ago. Sales of mass market paperbacks declined 36.7% and e-book sales dropped 5.1%. Downloadable audio sales, however, jumped 45.2% in the month. In the first 11 months of 2017, sales of adult books were up 2.9% over the comparable period in 2016. The downloadable audio category had the biggest gain, with sales up 28.0%. Among the print segments, hardcover sales were up the most, 11.0%. E-book sales from reporting publishers were down 5.4%. In the children’s/young adult category, November sales were down 8.2% compared to November 2016, with hardcover and e-book sales down 17.3% and 20.0%, respectively. For the first 11 months of 2017, sales in the category declined 3.0% compared to 2016, with only board books posting an increase, with sales up 5.1%. For the 1,212 publishers who report to AAP, sales were down 5.4% in November, but up 1.1% in the first 11 months of the year.

Categor Change November YTD
Adult Hard -2.7% 11.0%
Adult Paper 0.8% 0.2%
Mass Market -36.7% -11.0%
Physical Audio -18.4% -6.5%
Audio Download 45.2% 28.0%
Adult E-book -5.1% -5.4%
Children’s/YA -8.2% -3.0%
Religious Presses -0.7% -1.1%
Professional 14.8% 10.5%
K–12 Materials 9.4% -3.1%
Higher Ed. -23.9% 3.8%
University Presses -0.8% 4.8%