It surprises some people, but trade publishing sales have been good this year. Really. Dollar sales, as measured by the AAP, grew 5.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2024. Adult fiction remained particularly strong, helped by big sales for Sarah J. Maas (who moved well over 8 million print units alone) and the rapid rise of Freida McFadden (who sold roughly 4.9 million print units). The arrival of Spotify drove significant growth in audiobook sales—which have outpaced ebooks sales for the year so far for the first time ever. And the big publicly-reporting publishing companies boosted the topline […]
Industry Statistics
The Continuing Rise of Bloom Books
The NYT celebrates the continuing success of Sourcebooks’ Bloom Books imprint. In 2023 Bloom had already grown to sales of more than $100 million less than three years after its founding, and sales for 2024 are up another 58 percent. “In an era when TikTok can catapult authors to success overnight, Bloom has developed a lucrative formula: courting self-published authors who have a built-in fan base, taking over their print distribution, building up their brand and market share and turning them into mainstream best sellers. That model has propelled the careers of novelists who now rank among the genre’s most […]
AAP Publishers Recorded Strong Sales In October
The Association of American Publisher released StatShot data for October, reporting robust trade sales of $958 million, up 6 percent from last year. (That is the second-best October recorded by the AAP, next to the massive sales of $1.042 billion in 2021, which was the best year ever for trade book sales.) Adult book sales totaled $664 million, a 7.5 percent increase, with $324 million coming from fiction (a 17.5 percent increase) and $340 million in nonfiction (just below flat). Hardcovers grew 7 percent to $297 million and paperbacks were up 10 percent to $191 million. Adult audiobooks grew 19 […]
Adult Book Sales Held Steady in September
The Association of American Publishers released data from its participating StatShot publishers for September, recording trade sales of $832 million, down slightly from $842 million a year ago. Adult books sold $568 million, just above flat from $567 million last year. Hardcovers sold $233 million (up 3 percent) and made up 41 percent of sales, with paperbacks comprising 27 percent at $155 million (down 14 percent). Digital audio again outsold ebooks in the adult market, with $78.8 million in audio sales—up a big 33.5 percent—compared to $76.8 million in ebooks. Adult fiction grew 9 percent to $292 million while nonfiction […]
Bookscan Analyst Predicts “Strong Holiday” Sales
Following solid year-over-year gains in October for print book sales, Circana Bookscan analyst Brenna Connor foresees a strong selling season for the holidays. In her weekly analysis published Friday, Connor wrote: “My 2024 holiday outlook is positive. I believe the book market will see an improvement in sales compared to last year. Consumer engagement with books is high in 2024 and the market is poised for a strong holiday season, with sales volume growing between 1 percent and 4 percent compared to last year, with stronger MSRP dollar growth. This holiday there will be a focus on value for many […]
August Shows Trade Book Gains
The Association of American Publishers released StatShot data for August from participating publishers, reporting trade sales of $763 million, up 10.6 percent from August 2023. That strong data follows a near-record July. and looks to be a record performance for August, moving ahead of the big $758 million reported in August 2021. In adult books, sales were $550 million—$296 million (up 14.7 percent) in fiction and $254 million (up 8.5 percent) in nonfiction. Digital audio showed significant gains, up 41 percent to $82.5 million, making up 15 percent of the market. Ebooks grew as well, up 6.1 percent to $77.8 […]