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Trade Sales Fall In May

September 1, 2015
By Michael Cader

The AAP reported May sales from their approximately 1,200 reporting publishers, with a soft April giving way to across the board declines. Adult sales of $364 million were down $19 million (or 5 percent), with adult hardcover sales falling $23 million (or 17 percent) to $110 million for the month. Children’s and YA sales fell $13.6 million, or 9 percent, also weak in hardcovers (even as children’s paperbacks rose $8.4 million, to $56.6 million for the month).

And yes, eBook sales declined as well, at $106.6 million, down $16.3 million (or 13 percent). As in previous months, the falloff was bigger in children’s ebooks without new breakout YA hits, down $11.9 million, but adult ebooks also fell by $4.4 million in the month. (Though we don’t track it month-to-month, separately-reported religious ebook sales were also down significantly, at $2.8 million in May, versus $6.3 million a year ago.)

Total trade sales of $496.8 million for the month were down $32.6 million, or 6 percent, from a year ago. (May sales have been $525 million or better for the previous 3 years.) The summer’s biggest releases didn’t hit until June (with GREY) and July (for GO SET A WATCHMAN).

Filed Under: Free, Industry Statistics

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