• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Trade Finishes Well In December, Though Adult Hardcovers Remain Down

March 11, 2015
By Michael Cader

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:

MonthAdult SalesChange vs. 2013Children's/YA SalesChange vs. 2013eBook SalesChange 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

Filed Under: Free, Industry Statistics

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Booktopia Borrows $12 Million (AU) For New Fulfillment Center, With Some Funding From Nash and Taurig February 3, 2023 Press Release
  • Barnes & Noble Signs Lease for 7,000-Square-Foot Store in Brunswick, ME February 3, 2023 Maine Biz
  • A Former Prosecutor Explains the Precedents On Woodward and S&S's Side February 2, 2023 The Hill
  • Author Booted From Horror Writers Association Over Racist, Transphobic Rants February 1, 2023 Daily Beast
  • Two Years Ago Netflix Settled A Lawsuit Brought by Chooseco; Now Random House Has Licensed A "Stranger Things" Choose Your Own Adventure Book February 1, 2023 PW (with no reference to the lawsuit)
  • London Book Fair Seminars to Feature Harper CEO Brian Murray, Author Colson Whitehead February 1, 2023 Show site
  • Folio Prize Shortlists Announced February 1, 2023 Prize site
  • Barnes &. Noble Plans 15,000-Square-Foot Store At The Avenue East Cobb in Atlanta January 30, 2023 East Cobb News
  • Boris Johnson Received £510,000 As First Advance on His Memoirs January 27, 2023 Parliamentary Disclosure
  • Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne's Literary Archives Acquired by New York Public Library January 27, 2023 NYT
© 2023 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.