The AAP released monthly sales statistics for both June and July, which remained consistent with the pattern from earlier in the year, though perked up in July. Most of the year’s growth is coming children’s and young adult books, which have been up year-over-year for all seven reported months, though you can see in our chart below that those gains faded in June and July. Meanwhile, adult sales turned around in July — gaining $13 million, or 3.7 percent — after falling for four straight months, mostly on weaker hardcover sales. (Even in July, adult hardcover sales were down $5.1 million, but both trade and mass market paperbacks gained more than enough to put the month in positive territory.) Total trade sales were $496 million in June (up $15 million from a year ago) and $500 million in July (up $28 million).
Also consistent with the year’s pattern, overall ebook sales were up modestly — by $11 million (8.5 percent) in June, and $6.5 million (5 percent) in July — almost entirely due to gains in children’s/YA ebooks. Adult ebook sales are flat for the first seven months, up just $1.3 million, at $747 million; children’s/YA ebooks are up to $151 million so far in 2014, gaining $56 million compared to the same period in 2013. That puts total ebook sales of $898 million through July up 6.8 percent so far. Overall, ebooks comprise 26 percent of trade sales for the year, which stand at $3.418 billion. Total trade sales are running 4.3 percent ahead of 2013, up $141 million.
For a comprehensive overview of 2014 statistics date, along with more background on AAP statistics historically, check out our cool “master page” for AAP data. Below is our updated chart: