We are working on a broad piece looking at sales trends in 2020 and shifts among various sales channel but before we get to that, we are long overdue for an analysis of Deal trends from the year. (As always, our analysis is based on deal reports at PublishersMarketplace.com. Like all book industry datasets it…
Industry Statistics
AAP October Stats Show Trade Gains Continuing
AAP released its StatShot of publisher reported sales for October, with combined adult and children trade sales of $901 million, up from $877 million. Adult book sales were $611 million, up from $554 million in 2019, or 10 percent, with paperback books showing the biggest gain (18 percent). Children’s book sales meanwhile were down by…
September AAP StatShot Reports Another Good Month for Trade Books
AAP released its StatShot of publisher reported sales for September, with combined adult and children trade sales of $877 million, up from $718 million, or 22 percent higher. Shipments were up as well, at $978 million, up from $837 million last September, as the trade pushed out fall inventory ahead of the election and the…
People, Etc.
Poets & Writers managing director Melissa Ford Gradel will take over as the organization’s executive director in January, when Elliot Figman steps down, after leading the nonprofit since 1981. Figman said: “It’s been my honor to work together with such talented and passionate colleagues. While parting is, indeed, sweet sorrow, I’m delighted to pass the…
August AAP StatShot Shows Continued Trade Gains
The AAP released its August StatShot showing combined adult and children net trade sales of $648 million, up $46 million from last year. However, publishers didn’t ship many more books than they did last year in August; the gains persist because returns have been consistently lower this year. Shipments totaled $744 million, up just $5…
Fall Dealmaking Shows Strong Start
With the Frankfurt Book Fair cancelled, we are taking a preliminary look at the big fall “dealmaking season” a full three weeks after Labor Day. (Ordinarily, we chart pre-FBF deal trends according to the five-plus weeks between Labor Day and the Tuesday before the Fair.) So far, the market for new deals is looking strong…