Adult Hardcover Sales Climb in May

Posted on July 2, 2004

May yielded significant gains in publishing sales in two of the biggest categories tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), as well as in six other categories, boosting year to date sales. El-hi (elementary/high school) publishing sales also grew in May. Five categories did experience nominal losses, but year to date numbers remained little affected, and sales overall appear to be on a good track for the year.

Sales of adult hardcover books grew 31.2 percent from May 2003, with sales of $92.3 million (up 20.3 percent for the year). Adult paperback sales gained 17.0 percent in May (with sales of $71.0 million), and with the year to date figure up by an encouraging 6.9 percent. The adult mass market category dipped a slight 3.8 percent in May, with sales of $54.1 million for this category, but adult mass market sales again came up short for the year (this category carries a 8.4 percent deficit so far in 2004).

The children�s and young adult hardcover category posted a marginal 1.4 percent loss in May ($28.8 million); the category is up for the year by 2.5 percent. The children�s and young adult paperback publishing sales lost a more significant 25.1 percent with sales totaling $29.5 million for May. This category is, however, up by 4.1 percent for the year.

Audio books gained 27.8 percent ($11.8 million) in May, continuing this category�s course of steady growth after a stumble last month. This category is up 24.7 percent for 2004. Ebooks seemed to have also recovered in May with sales up 66.9 percent ($800,000), in this rapidly expanding category. Ebooks have grown 80.4 percent over last year�s sales. Religious books continued their growth streak in May with sales growing 23.0 percent ($21.6 million) up 32.4 percent for 2004.

Sales of university press hardcover books posted an 18.9 percent gain ($9.5 million) in May. This category is still recovering from early year losses and maintains a narrowing year to date deficit of 2.5 percent. Sales in the university press paperback category were boosted by 40.3 percent in May (sales totaled $17.9 million); this category is down 10.2 percent for the year. Sales in the professional and scholarly category declined 14.0 percent in May, with sales of $40.1 million; this category lags by 5.3 percent for the year. Finally, sales of �other� types of books lost 43.1 percent in May with sales of $900,000. This catchall category has, however, is clinging to a positive 1.0 percent lead over 2003 year to date figures.

Higher education publishing sales grew 66.2 percent for May ($64.0 million), but continue to trail 2003 sales figures (this category is down 11.7 percent for the year). Finally, el-hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 net sales gained 17.9 percent in May, with sales of $350.2 million, providing for the strong 12.6 percent growth this year.



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