Today we report both fourth quarter and full-year 2023 statistics for US deal reports. Dealmaking patterns were somewhat in line with sales in 2022, as most key domestic deal statistics ebbed from record levels in 2021 but still held at high levels relative to previous years. Things did soften after a strong first quarter, and then picked up a bit in the fourth quarter. In particular: – US deals finished down by 2.7 percent — like print sales as measured by Circana Bookscan, the third-best year in recent charting, and well ahead of 2020 and earlier years. – Adult Fiction continued its […]
Industry Statistics
The Year in Finance
Publishing financial results were a mixed bag in 2023, with some publishers “flying high” (Simon & Schuster, Bloomsbury) and some falling (Hachette, Scholastic), while others saw a bit of both (Harper Collins). According to the AAP, trade book sales faltered slightly in the first three quarters, and while some publishers have reported lower overall book sales and continued supply chain pressures, others are reaping the benefits of increased interest in commercial and genre fiction. Penguin Random House Bertelsmann expects full-year sales to be “moderately” over last year, with a flat operating profit and a slight decline in EBITDA. As yet, […]
September Trade Sales Show Lower Returns
The AAP released StatShot data for September, reporting total trade sales of $826.8 million, down slightly from $839.4 million last year. Adult books fell 4.4 percent to $554 million in the month. Hardcovers gained 8.2 percent to $223.8 million, while paperbacks fell 15.7 percent to $171.5 million. Ebooks were down too, 5.8 percent to $70.2 million, while digital audio grew 2.2 percent to $58.9 million. Continuing their upswing from August, children’s books saw a gain after months of losses, with overall sales of 272.8 million, up 5.1 percent from 2022. Hardcovers were just above flat at $103.6 million, while paperbacks […]
Bloom Books Scales to $100 Million; Print Sales Rise In November
Less than three years after its founding, Sourcebooks’ Bloom Books imprint is having a banner year, on track to finish 2023 with almost $100 million in gross sales worldwide according to the company. That has to make the line among the fastest-growing new imprints ever. In outlets tracked by Circana Bookscan, Bloom Books has sold 6.4 million print units so far in 2023, rocketing up from just under 1 million units the same time a year ago. Highlights include sales of more than 1.85 million print units of books by Ana Huang this year, and over 1.5 million print units […]
Sales Trends Turn Positive
For the last three weeks, Circana Bookscan’s weekly totals of print book sales have been ahead of results for 2022, showing positive signs from the marketplace heading into the biggest sales period of the year. The only other time this year that current weekly sales have run ahead of last year for more than one week at a time was a five-week streak in March and April headed into Easter. The total market gained approximately 500,000 units over the past three weeks versus the same sales weeks in 2022, with the gains driven by adult titles, which were up 4 […]
Cleaner Returns Boost August AAP Sales
The AAP released StatShot data for August, with shipments to accounts looking strong ahead of the fall season. Sales from reporting publishers were $701 million, up 6.4 percent (or $45 million) from a relatively weak August a year ago. A better return rate contributed to the strong month, and the bar for August 2022 was reset lower as well: The revised and final data has that month registering sales of $659 million, versus the originally reported $686 million. Adult books sold $486 million overall, up 7.6 percent, with $148 million in hardcovers (a 19.4 percent gain) and $182.5 million in […]