The AAP reported sales for December 2014 as well as the full year, account for sales from the 1,209 reporting publishers. A strong December helped the trade end the year well, with sales of $591 million up $64.5 million (or 12 percent) from a year ago. Adult hardcover sales still declined in the month however, as was the case for the whole year as well, down $4.5 million in December. eBook sales had their biggest gain since December.
For the full year 2014, total trade sales of $6.631 billion were up $258 million (or 4 percent) from $6.373 billion a year ago — due entirely to strong children’s/YA sales, which rose $325 million. Adult sales were down 1.5 percent for the year, attributable almost entirely to weak hardcover/frontlist sales; they fell more than 8 percent from $1.520 billion in 2013 to $1.395 billion in 2014, a decline of $125 million.
Total ebook sales of $1.519 billion grew almost 5 percent, or $70 million, up from $1.449 billion in 2013. Adult ebooks were up slightly, with most of the gains coming from children’s/YA ebook sales, which totaled $227 million for the year. eBooks comprised 23 percent of all reported sales for the year, accounting for 27 percent of adult sales and 12 percent of children’s/YA sales. (In 2013, ebooks comprised 21 percent of AAP trade sales in all, and in 2012 they were 23 percent.)
Some of the largest growth on a percentage basis came from downloadable audiobooks. Adult digital audio was $162 million, rising 27 percent or $34.6 million, while physical audio sales fell only $6 million to $70 million for the year. (Children’s/YA audio is not big enough to be reported separately.)
There is one important caveat on these year-over-year comparisons, however, which we discovered in looking at the AAP’s previous reports. The historical data is actually revised over time, and the adjustment to the 2013 figures looks bigger than usual. A year ago, the AAP said 2013 sales were $6.441 billion, but now they say 2013 sales added up to $68 million less — and that gap comes entirely from adult sales. Which makes adult sales for 2014 even weaker if you measure against what we thought they were a year ago. Based on the first report, we had thought 2013 adult sales rose $37 million — but it turns out they actually declined $32 million.
Looking back, the revised version of 2012’s stats shaved only $12 million from adult sales and $5 million from children’s sales, with final trade sales adding up to $6.515 billion. So based on the past few years, restated 2014 results a year from are likely to show totals at least a little lower than what the AAP is reporting today. But only time will tell.
In other key segment summaries for 2014, the AAP reports:
Religious Presses $554 million (+1.3%, but only because 2013 was revised down from $572 million to $547 million)
Professional Books $798 million (+10.1%)
K-12 $3.191 billion (+10.7%)
Higher Ed $4.405 billion (+2.4%)
University Press $117 million (+0.3%)
Here is our full chart of month-by-month comparisons for 2014 sales:
| Month | Adult Sales | Change vs. 2013 | Children's/YA Sales | Change vs. 2013 | eBook Sales | Change vs. 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | $362 million | +$10 million | $144 million | +$44 million | $137 million | +$15.5 million |
| February | $325 million | +$6 million | $137 million | +$35 million | $139 million | +$5.5 million |
| March | $316.5 million | -$23.5 million | $133 million | +$22 million | $108.5 million | -$7.5 million |
| April | $363 million | -$20 million | $128 million | +$24 million | $138.5 million | +$19.5 million |
| May | $371 million | -$37 million | $154 million | +$39 million | $120 million | +$3 million |
| June | $367.5 million | -$3 million | $129 million | +$18.5 million | $129 million | +$11 million |
| July | $367 million | +$13 million | $133 million | +$15 million | $127 million | +$6.5 million |
| August | $415 million | +$8 million | $179 million | +$29 million | $124.5 million | +$2.5 million |
| September | $435 million | -$58.5 million | $183 million | +$15 million | $123 million | +$4 million |
| October | $537.1 million | +$52.5 million | $220.4 million | +$31.2 million | $120 million | -$1 million |
| November | $441.9 million | -$37.3 million | $190.6 million | +$23.6 million | $116 million | -$5.6 million |
| December | $432.1 million | +$35.5 million | $159 million | +$29.1 million | $133.5 million | +$13.8 million |
| Full Year | $4.744 billion | -$67.7 million | $1.887 billion | +$325 million | $1.519 billion | +$70 million |
| January 2015 | $393 million | +$26.7 million | $140.3 million | -$1.6 million | $129.4 million | -$10.9 million |
| February 2015 | $305 million | -$24 million | $87 million | -$40 million | $117 million | -$21 million |
| March 2015 | $356 million | $38.3 million | $101 million | -$23.8 million | $110 million | -$1.1 million |
| April 2015 | $488 million | -$6.5 million | $120 million | -$20.6 million | $120 million | -$20.6 million |