The ABA reported through the AP that the booksellers’ organization added 173 members over the last year. The ABA now counts 2,185 bookstore members, operating 2,599 locations in all. Forty-six new stores added over the past year reported diverse ownership. That represents an increase of 175 members — yet they only grew by 52 locations. In calendar 2023, ABA ceo Allison Hill indicated book sales look to be “softer”, though the association added 56 member stores so far, and with 18 stores closing. Separately, the ABA itself released an interesting statistic about online sales volume conducted through their Indie Commerce […]
Industry Statistics
Feb AAP Stats Show Major Gains in Audio
The AAP released February StatShot data for participating publishers, reporting trade sales of $630.8 million, down 1.5 percent from last year, or $10 million lower. Sales for adult books were $428 million, down 2.1 percent from February 2022. Adult hardcovers fell 13.1 percent to $113 million, paperbacks were down 3.2 percent to $147 million, and ebooks were down 7.6 percent to $71.6 million. Some of those losses were made up for by a 33.5 percent increase in digital audio sales, which amounted to $73.3 million—surpassing ebook sales for the month. Though they aren’t the biggest driver of kids sales, digital […]
Deals Fell In the First Quarter, As Big Publishers Invested Less
Deal reports took a discernible step back in the first quarter, after setting significant records in 2021 and then again in 2022. (Last year, the first quarter was the strongest period the whole year, with total US deal volume ending up down by 1.5 percent.) Total deals registered 4.4 percent lower than in the big Q1 2022, but “core” deals (excluding our digital deals category) declined 8 percent. Similarly, deals from the five largest trade publishers on their own also declined 8.5 percent, leading the market down, primarily due to the two biggest players. Digital deals rose sharply for the […]
January Trade Sales Rose 3.7 Percent, AAP Reports
In an encouraging start to the year, January sales data from the AAP’s reporting StatShot publishers shows trade sales rising modestly, reversing three consecutive quarters of declines at the end of 2022. Gains in adult books offset slight decreases in children’s and YA sales, with total trade sales for the month registering $682 million, up 3.7 percent over January 2022. Adult sales were $492 million, an increase of 6.2 percent, with hardcover sales of $155 million and paperback sales of $178 million. Children’s sales fell 2.3 percent to $189.5 million, with hardcovers selling $69 million and paperbacks accounting for $83 […]
2022 Trade Sales Fell 6.2%
The Association of American Publishers released its StatShot data for December and for all of 2022 from participating publishers, with trade sales falling 6.2 percent for the year and 6.4 percent for the month. Net trade sales for the year were $8.385 billion, down from $8.938 billion. As with Bookscan-reported print sales figures, that is still a substantial gain over 2020 (when trade sales totaled $7.88 billion) and 2019 (at $7.40 billion), and the second-best total ever. Adult sales were $5.76 billion, down 6.4 percent (-$394 million), while children’s and YA books dropped 5.7 percent (-$159 million) to $2.619 million. […]
November Trade Sales Fell 14 Percent
The AAP released their StatShot data for November, with reporting publishers showing $792 million in trade sales, down 14 percent (or $133 million) from 2021. Adult sales were $551 million, a 13 percent decrease from $634 million the previous year. Almost the entire shortfall — $73 million — came from lower hardcover sales. Children’s sales declined 17 percent to $241 million, compared to $291 million in November 2021. Hardcovers were down over 24 percent to $87.9 million, and paperbacks declined 12.4 percent to $103.4 million. In digital formats, weakness in children’s sales left overall digital audio barely above flat at […]