The holiday sales season for print books ended with a strong final week, through December 27, with sales as recorded by Nielsen Bookscan up 4.5 million units (or 20 percent) over the same sales week last year. Per the trend already written about widely, for all of 2015 print book sales grew by 17.6 million units in all, or a modest 2.8 percent, moving over 652 million units in all. (In 2014, unit sales were up about 15 million units compared to the prior year.) Our sales trend analysis from a week or so ago still holds, except that in the end, […]
Industry Statistics
Which Print Is Back, Where? A Nuanced View of 2015 Stats So Far
It’s a little too soon to close the books on trade publishing statistics and trends for the year, with reporting for the two biggest sales weeks still to come, but the “good year for print books” meme has been going strong since September and will continue through other popular accounts in the weeks to come. This turns out to be deja vu all over again, as we note from our own archives that the exact same “print is back” story was in circulation this time a year ago — when Nielsen Bookscan 2014 year-end numbers showed total print sales across […]
Trade Sales Fell Back In August
After strong reports for June and July, AAP-reported book sales fell sharply in August, on a comparable basis. Total sales of $544.4 million were about even with July’s shipments, but they were well below sales of $604.2 million for the same month in 2014, down 10 percent. (August is traditionally the kickoff month for shipping in fall books.) The current report is more in line with August sales from 2013 (at $549 million), and we note that the comparison is exaggerated since the AAP has revised upwards the historical August 2014 sales — which were reported as $585 million initially […]
In Strong July Sales Report, Children’s Segment Turns Positive
The AAP reported July sales for the 1,200 or so publishers who provide them with monthly data (so covering only the first part of the third quarter that public companies are reporting now), with solid gains in trade, at $555.7 million, up $55.3 million from a year ago. Notably, children’s books and YA, which powered nearly all of the trade’s increase in 2014, turned positive for the first month so far in 2015. Children’s sales of $142.3 million were up $14.7 million. Children’s hardcovers turned positive, up $3.6 million, with most of the increase coming from trade paperbacks, up $10.5 […]
Nook Unveils The GlowLight Plus
Following a premature leak on their own web site a month ago, on Wednesday Nook formally launched its first new ereader in two years, the GlowLight Plus. The new 6.9-ounce device — slightly heavier than its predecessor — is hailed as the company’s “first waterproof and dustproof device,” and therefore perfect “for worry-free reading anywhere – including the bath and the beach.” As in the past, a promotion offer that runs through the end of the year gives device buyers three free ebooks from a selection of 20 participating titles, three free magazines and a $5 content credit. “We’re excited to introduce the best ever Nook eReader […]
Pew Fails to Align Survey with NYT Article
The Pew Research Center released their latest survey of Americans’ reading habits, conducted in March and April. (Note in particular that it is a survey — of 1,900 adults.) Liberated of the need to drive front-page narratives, the Pew data is fairly consistent with their previous findings. The less positive news is that, in line with a year with fewer “must read” hit books as of the spring, the percentage of Americans who read at least one book in either print or ebook form fell to 72 percent — down from 76 percent the year before, and 79 percent in 2011, […]