The AAP released their annual StatShot report for 2024 with results from 1,281 publishers. Trade sales totaled $8.927 billion, a 2.2 percent increase from $8.731 in 2023. And domestic trade sales—excluding exports—were a little healthier, rising 3 percent. Religious presses, counted separately, registered sales of $946 million—a 25 percent increase from 2023. (In the AAP’s monthly reports they tabulate religious presses separately; in their annual, they switch and include the data in “trade.” We prefer a consistent approach.) Adult books sold $6.385 billion, up 4 percent, and children’s book sales were just below flat at $2.541 billion. Those totals include […]
Industry Statistics
Trade Sales Fall in May, as Returns Rise
The AAP reported May results from reporting StatShot publishers, with trade sales down 8.6 percent from last year to $671 million. Adult book sales fell 9.6 percent to $493 million; fiction sales were down 8.3 percent to $286 million and nonfiction sales dropped 11.3 percent to $207 million. By format, adult books sold $167 million in hardcover (down 8.6 percent) and $167 million in paperback (down 16.3 percent). Ebook sales were $72.1 million (down 1 percent) and digital audio sold $75.8 million (up 9.8 percent). In the kids and YA book market, sales were down 5.8 percent to $178 million, […]
Print Sales Ebbed In the First Half of 2025
Circana Bookscan reports that print book sales “remain[ed] steady in the first half of 2025 but has shown signs of slowness in May and June. In the first six months of 2025, print book sales dropped -1 percent based on units sold, compared to the same period last year.” They note, “Key factors behind the drops include retail promo events that occurred in 2024 and were not replicated in 2025, along with the normalization of adult fiction sales volume.” Adult nonfiction was ”the steepest underperformer,” down 3 million units compared to the first half of 2024, even with sales of […]
Adult Book Sales Dropped in April, While Children’s Gained
The Association of American Publishers released StatShot data for April, reporting trade sales down 2 percent to $673 million. Adult books fell 5 percent to $482 million, with $263 million in fiction (down 8 percent) and $219 million in nonfiction (down 1 percent). Hardcover sales were $166 million, up 3 percent; paperbacks were $154 million, down 9 percent; ebooks were $70.7 million, down 2 percent; and digital audio sales were $76.3 million, down 13 percent. Children’s and YA books gained 6 percent to $191 million, with $158 million in fiction (up 4 percent) and $33 million in nonfiction (up 15.5 […]
More Availability for Digital Audio Sales Data
Earlier this year we started offering Circana Bookscan’s digital audio sales data from PubTrack Digital Audio as an upgrade to the agents, authors and other professionals who get annual data subscriptions through PM. Now we are incorporating that data when available into Dealmakers records, which show complete point-of-sales across all editions for over 80,000 titles. Plus, as of this week, those people who get our ridiculously affordable monthly Bookscan Data Package also have the option to add digital audio when available, when adding new titles to the monthly tracker. (Digital audiobook sales are available only for titles published by Hachette […]
Hardcovers Helped Book Sales Rebound in March
Book sales bounced back in March after a slump in February, growing 4 percent year over year to $652 million, according to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot report. Adult books sold $454 in the month, growing 3 percent, with $250 million in fiction (up 1 percent) and $204 million in nonfiction (up 6 percent). Hardcovers drove the lift, selling $454 million–a 21 percent jump from the same period last year–while paperbacks sold $151 million, ebooks registered $74.8 million, and digital audio accounted for $69.9 million. Children’s and YA book sales grew 7 percent to $198 million, with $160 million […]