Through the first three quarters of 2022, NPD Bookscan reports that measured print book sales reached 543 million units, still the second-best result in years. That total is 27 million below the same point in 2021, but well above 2020 and earlier. The sales comp actually improved during the third quarter, when sales were just […]
Industry Statistics
Fight for Control of Booktopia Continues as Directors Resign
Four independent directors on the board of Australian retailer Booktopia announced their resignations yesterday, after former ceo and continuing shareholder Tony Nash called a meeting to remove two of them. In a release, the company says that the board has been negotiating the “board composition” with Nash since he made the announcement in August. “The […]
Trade Sales Grew to $10 Billion, According to AAP Stats
The AAP released their StatShot Annual Report for 2021 on Friday, for the second year in a row providing a substantial collection of actual, directly-reported data, received from a modestly expanded pool of reporting publishers. Trade sales (starting with their default measure, which includes religious presses alongside trade) increased more than 13 percent to $10.14 […]
Understanding the Contours of Growing Backlist Sales
Some interesting data has surfaced recently providing more nuance about the true scope of backlist sales — from both the antitrust trial and NPD Bookscan — that’s worthy of gathering in one place. During the pandemic, Bookscan data showed a marked acceleration of backlist sales, from roughly 62 or 63 percent of print units in […]
Trade Sales Stable in First Half of Year
The AAP released StatShot data for June, and for the first half of the year. In June, trade sales were mostly flat at $605.4 million, compared to $601.9 million last year. Adult sales for the month were $427.9 million, up from $417.3 million. (For comparison, June 2020 showed $454 million in adult sales, and June […]
Adult Hardcovers Fell 19% in May
The Association of American Publishers released StatShot data for May from their participating publishers. Trade sales were $610.6 million, down 4 percent from $639.3 million last year. For comparison, total sales according to the last pre-pandemic report in 2019 were $633 million. Adult book sales were $406.7 million, a (7.7) percent decline compared to $440.5 […]