Book News: Spring 2008 Sales Flatline

With beach season now upon us, publishers are undoubtedly in full-swing summer-reading mode, paying exorbitant sums of cash to stock B&N's front-list tables with disposable mass-market fodder. But with lagging sales and no marquee titles on the schedule (or at least none the size of last year's Harry Potter finale), the industry will have to work overtime to sustain its dubious claims of year-to-year rising sales.

From the Department of Poor Timing comes an announcement this week by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) stating that April saw a 3.5% decline in book sales from month-to-month, down to $473 million*. The AAP would have you believe that there's better news hidden within -- that year-to-date sales are "stable" (read: flat-lined) -- but a little investigation shows that as of March, YTD sales were still up a little more than one percent.

The industry in brief: Adult Hardcover sales recovered a few points from the 17% YTD decline posted in March, while the Paperback category shows continued strength year-over-year with an 18% increase in sales. Audio Books swung dramatically from a 44% monthly dip in March to a slight increase in April, but are still struggling in a year-over-year double-digit deficit (just in time for AAP's "Get Caught Listening" public-service campaign, btw). Sales of E-books -- though currently only a fraction of the total industry pie -- continue to rise in dramatic fits and spurts, with more than a 58% increase in March and just under 20% monthly increase in April, contributing to the 36% increase so far this year.


Question of the Day: Do you (a) buy more books over the summer, (b) do most of your book buying during the holidays, or (c) shop for books consistently throughout the year? (Comment below)


Visit publishers.org for more info, and continue reading after the jump for the full release.
(*All figures represent domestic net sales, btw.)


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Chris is a digital product manager by trade, a book nerd by nature.
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Publishing Sales Stable for the Year
Monthly sales see small decline in April

June 23, 2008, New York, NY: Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of April decreased by 3.5 percent to $473 million, and remained flat for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category was down by 4.6 percent in April with sales of $110.0 million; year-to-date sales were decreased by 14.5 percent. Adult Paperback sales rose 4.5 percent for the month ($118.3 million); sales were up by 18.2 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category increased by 4.7 percent for April with sales totaling $53.2 million; sales increased by 1.7 percent year-to-date. The Children's/YA Hardcover category saw a decrease of 19.9 percent for the month with sales of $39.0 million; additionally, sales for year-to-date dropped by 12.0 percent. The Children's/YA Paperback category was down by 3.1 percent in March with sales totaling $39.3 million; however, sales were up by 4.8 percent for the year.

Audio Book sales posted an increase of 1.7 percent in April, with sales totaling $12.6 million; though sales for the whole year were down by 13.0 percent. E-books sales rose by 19.9 percent for the month ($3.4 million); the category also posted an increase of 36.1 percent for the year. Religious Books saw a decrease of 21.5 percent for the month with sales of $34.2 million; sales were down by 14.1 percent for the year.

Higher Education publishing sales decreased by 30.5 percent for the month ($8.0 million), reflecting a 8.5 percent increase for the year. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted an increase of 4.6 percent in April with sales of $196.5 million; this category was also up by 3.7 percent for the year.

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP's more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association's highest priorities.