In what appears to be indicative of the overall economic kick-in-the-pants, book sales slumped more than 20% in October, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Though only down 3.4% total for the year (isn't it sad that single-digit loss is something to get excited about?), some categories suffered more than others. Adult hardcover sales, for example, were down a whopping 25%. Not surprisingly, readers are turning to the cheaper alternatives: net domestic paperback sales were up 4%+ for the year, and mass market sales 6%+ for October.
Audio books continue to drop drastically into irrelevance, totalling a mere $18.4 million in sales, down more than 22% year over year. Ebooks, however, skyrocketed 73%, adding to a 57%+ increase for the year. Expect as a result that fewer books will be released with costly audio versions (or with any real talent reading them), and for ebook versions to become part of major (and minor) book releases.
GATHERERS WEIGH-IN: Are you considering switching to ebooks yet? And if you do have a digital reader, do you find the selection is getting better? Click here to jump to the comments.
Read the officially depressing AAP press release below, or read my depressingly similar September sales update here.
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AAP Reports Publishing Sales for Month of October
Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of October decreased by 20.1 percent at $644.5 million and were down by 3.4 percent for the year.
The Adult Hardcover category was down by 25.0 percent in October with sales of $246.2 million; year-to-date sales were down by 13.1 percent. Adult Paperback sales decreased 23.0 percent for the month ($95.0 million) but increased by 4.1 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category was up 6.3 percent for October with sales totaling $65.3 million; sales were also up by 1.3 percent year-to-date. The Children's/YA Hardcover category saw an increase of 0.8 percent for the month with sales of $86.4 million; sales for year-to-date dropped by 23.4 percent. The Children's/YA Paperback category was down 14.8 percent in October with sales totaling $43.8 million, though sales increased by 6.1 percent for the year.
Audio Book sales posted a decrease of 9.1 percent in October with sales totaling $18.4 million; sales for the whole year were down by 22.9 percent. E-books sales jumped up by 73.0 percent for the month ($5.2 million), reflecting an increase of 57.7 percent for the year. Religious Books saw a decrease of 25.6 percent for the month with sales totaling $57.1 million; sales were also down by 11.5 percent for the year.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books dropped 20.4 percent in October with sales of $6.0 million; sales decreased by 8.5 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales posted a decrease of 13.9 percent for the month with sales totaling $4.2 million; sales were down 7.3 percent for the year. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category were down by 4.4 percent in October ($46.3 million) and decreased by 1.1 percent for the year.
Higher Education publishing sales posted a decrease of 443.1 percent for the month (-$32.8 million) but increased 3.7 percent for the year. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted a decrease of 16.3 percent in October with sales of $143.2 million; the category was down by 3.9 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.
NOTE: All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales
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Comments: 9
I know a lot of people are having to cut back on their spending but I hope they don't cut back on their reading. Used book stores, yard sales, the public library, and book-swapping websites are all great ways to get good books without spending a lot of money.