Circana Bookscan formally reported print sales data for the third quarter, when the “market remained steady” — running at 1 percent below sales from the previous year, as was the case in the second quarter. Adult fiction sales declined 1.3 million units in the quarter, and young adult unit sales fell 4 percent. In contrast, children’s books grew 2 percent overall in the quarter, led by children’s nonfiction sales, which rose 6 percent. You can follow Bookscan data all the time through our range of data offers, which go from full agency licenses that provide full market data down to […]
Industry Statistics
Adult and Kids Books Report Double-Digit Decreases in July
The Association of American Publishers reported July sales data from Statshot publishers, reporting overall trade sales of $619 million in July, down 13 percent. Adult book sales dropped 14 percent to $454 million during the month, with fiction sales down 10 percent to $277 million and nonfiction down 18 percent to $177.5 million in nonfiction. Hardcovers sold $118 million (down 9 percent), paperbacks sold $162 million (down 16 percent), ebooks sold $74 million (down 5 percent) and digital audio sold $78 million (down 20 percent). Children’s and YA books sold $164.5 million, a 10 percent decrease from last year, including […]
Fiction Still Leads In Pre-Frankfurt Deal Period
As we noted earlier in the month, third-quarter dealmaking in the US remained fairly strong even as the consumer marketplace wobbled, with total deal reports gaining slightly, despite a modest pullback from record spending a year ago. In the more concentrated five-week-plus pre-Frankfurt dealmaking, we see similar trends, with publisher spending a little stronger than during the third quarter, though still backing down just a bit from last year’s FBF period. As has been the case for some time, adult fiction continues to lead the market — particularly among publishers’ largest investments — while adult nonfiction and children’s books continue […]
Sales Reports Show Big Gains for Kids Books in June
The Association of American Publishers released June Stashot data from participating publishers, reporting overall trade sales of $616 million, down 3 percent from 2024. Adult books sold $447 million, a decrease of 7 percent. Fiction sold $263 million, down 5 percent, and nonfiction sold $184 million, down 9 percent. Hardcovers fell 5 percent to $184 million, paperbacks fell 12 percent to $158 million, and ebooks fell 1 percent to $73.6 million. Digital audio increased 14 percent to $79.2 million. Children’s and YA book sales gained 9 percent to $168.5 million, with fiction up 8 percent to $136.6 million and nonfiction […]
Digital Audio Breaks $1B in 2024
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 […]
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, […]