In today’s fragmented world of incomplete sales data — largely because we do not have any public disclosure of ebook unit sales on a title-level basis — USA Today’s annual list of the top 100 bestsellers performs a more important function than ever. That’s because they are the only compiler of bestseller lists to issue an annual chart that combines both ebook and print sales data from most major sellers. More particularly, their dataset includes Kindle sales but puts them in the context of the overall market, so you can differentiate between the storyline Amazon popularizes about what’s selling in […]
Sales
Trade Sales Show A Lift In Fall, But eBooks Remain Down Slightly for 2013
The AAP reported monthly sales data for September and October of 2013, showing modest gains versus a year ago when you combine the two months. Total sales first showed year-over-year gains in August, after 10 consecutive months of flat or declining numbers. September trade sales gained 7.5 percent, up $47.5 million, with increases in nearly all tracked sub-categories, to $665 million for the month. In part, however, fall titles shipped earlier in 2013 without the presidential election to steer around. Which may be why the October numbers show a slight decline, down 1.5 percent (or $11 million) at $664.5 million […]
Soft Holiday Sales for Barnes & Noble Are Still An “Improvement” As Digital Content Falls Again
Barnes & Noble followed up their weak second quarter sales report with some improvement over the following 9-week holiday sales period (through December 28): Same-store sales at the BN superstores and BN.com declined 6.6 percent overall, and 5.5 percent on a comparable-sales basis, at $1.1 billion. But nearly all of the retail decline was due to weaker sales of Nook devices and accessories; “core” store sales were “essentially flat”, down 0.2 percent compared to last year. General book sales probably declined more, since the company points to “strong increases in our juvenile, gift and toys & games categories.” But the […]
eBook Sales Fall Three Months In A Row As Overall Trade Declines Continue
The AAP issued a belated double batch of sales statistics for May and June from their approximately 1,200 reporting publishers, along with sub-totals for the first half of the year. Just as remarkable sales for The Hunger Games and then Fifty Shades lifted results in 2012, the absence of monster hits since then continues to weigh on industry-wide stats. The two big numerical trends continued: After flattening last fall, overall trade sales have declined for 8 consecutive months. And ebook sales, which had been growing — albeit slowly — have now declined for 3 straight months. May trade sales of $525 […]
AAP Trade Sales Fell 12 Percent in April; eBooks Actually Dropped 13.5 Percent
The AAP released their Stat Shot sales data for April, collected from approximately 1,200 publishers. With difficult comparisons to a year ago, when Hunger Games was still hot and the Fifty Shades series was just taking off for Vintage, the numbers show declines across the board. Overall trade sales of $490 million were down 12 percent from the previous year. The number that will draw the most remarks is the ebook sales total for the month of $120.5 million, down 13.5 percent compared to 2012, a rare decline for that closely-watched category. But a closer look shows how the drops […]
AAP Trade Sales Fall Some In February, Further In March
The AAP released catch-up Stat Shot statistics from February and March that show overall trade sales declining from one month to the next through the first quarter of 2013, mostly due to the absence of hits to take the place of the Hunger Games trilogy a year ago. February trade sales (from a pool of almost 1,200 reporting publishers across all sectors) declined 6 percent, to $421 million; March trade sales fell further, by 8.6 percent, to $449 million. (January sales, as previously reported, had been down by just $3 million.) Those comparisons will likely fall again in comparison to […]