Trade sales as measured by the AAP turned significantly negative for the first time all year in September, ratifying concerns that the lack of new breakout hits might weigh on consumer traffic and sales during the most important months of the year. Total trade sales of $618 million were down $44 million (or 7 percent), compared to $662 million a year. Adult sales, which have been soft all year, accounted for all of the decline and then some, down $58.5 million (or 12 percent). Once again, hardcover sales — or weak frontlist — fell the most, down $41.3 million. Children’s and […]
Industry Statistics
Children’s/YA Sales Drive Sales Again In August
The AAP released their monthly Stat Shot statistics from approximately 1,200 reporting publishers for August, with sales remaining true to the pattern from all of 2014: Strong children’s/YA sales — in all formats — continue to carry the trade, accounting for all of the gains and then some, as new release adult hardcovers (and thus companion ebooks) remain lackluster. For August itself, adult sales of $415 million did rise slightly from $408 million a year ago, and children’s/YA sales of $170 million were up from $141 million last August. Adult hardcover sales were down again, though, and have been weak all year […]
Steady Trade Results in June and July
The AAP released monthly sales statistics for both June and July, which remained consistent with the pattern from earlier in the year, though perked up in July. Most of the year’s growth is coming children’s and young adult books, which have been up year-over-year for all seven reported months, though you can see in our chart below that those gains faded in June and July. Meanwhile, adult sales turned around in July — gaining $13 million, or 3.7 percent — after falling for four straight months, mostly on weaker hardcover sales. (Even in July, adult hardcover sales were down $5.1 million, […]
Kobo Shares Examples of Reader Data Analysis
Kobo has released a white paper designed to show publishers and authors how reader data that platforms like Kobo compile “can actually help publishers unlock previously hidden equity within their publishing lists and inform decisions on which authors and franchises to invest in, which ones are running out of steam, and where trouble may lie within any individual book.” Multiple examples focus on “completion rates”; books that readers actually finish. Apparently, large numbers of people do not finish their ebooks. As an example, “the industry benchmark for completion in mystery books is 62 percent.” Books with higher-than-average completion rates with […]
Growth Moderates for ISBN-Carrying Self-Published Books
Bowker has issued a new six-year overview of self-publishing output, prepared in conjunction with their sister company Proquest. While the report provides more robust counts of self-published books annually than the numbers found in Bowker’s regularly, yearly looks at newly published books, there is still one big flaw in using the data to draw sweeping conclusions. Bowker declares: “While self-publishing is alive and well and still showing very healthy growth rates, gone are the days of 60% growth year over year. As the charts in this report show, self-publishing has matured and slowed down to a steadier, less frantic pace.” […]
Strong Final Week Puts Pre-Frankfurt Dealmaking Up 12 Percent
With a very strong week of deal reports, our updated counts of pre-Frankfurt dealmaking activity now show 2014 surpassing what was a strong 2013 by a good margin. For October 1 through October 7 we logged 192 US deals, compared to 118 in the same period a year ago. So our totals which were up less than 2 percent for the month of September now have domestic deal report up almost 12 percent for September 1 through October 7, with 795 transactions (compared to 711 a year ago). Children’s and YA sales continued to show the biggest increase year over […]