In June, net book sales reported by 87 publishers to the Association of
American Publishers rose 10.6%, to $1.1 billion, and are up 11.4%, to $4.2
billion, for the year to date. Children's books showed notable strength,
particularly the Children's/YA hardcover category, which jumped 19.6% in
June.
CATEGORY
SALES
% CHANGE
E-books
$29.8 million 118.9%
K-12/el-hi
$766 million 39%
Higher education
$514.9 million 35.2%
Downloaded audiobooks $6 million
32.8%
Children's/YA hardcover $60.6 million
19.6%
Univ. press paperback $3.4 million
8.6%
Univ. press hardcover $3.4 million
7.7%
Professional/scholarly $59.5 million
2.2%
Children's/YA paperback $51.5 million
1.5%
Adult paperback
$133.7 million 0.9%
Physical audiobooks $12.1
million -36.9%
Adult mass market
$60.8 million -35.4%
Adult hardcover
$113.8 million -13.9%
Religious books
$39.2 million -8%
Comments
Mechelle Fogelsong said on Tuesday, September 14, 2010:
Being a schoolteacher, I can tell you why k-12 books jumped 39%. In our district, we were told that the national deficit was going to put a damper on book-buying, so if you needed any books, last spring would be your last opportunity to buy them for a long, long time. Thus, I ordered 12 hard-cover copies of Treasure Island, even though I only needed about three more copies.
My reasoning? Sheer panic.
I would venture to guess this number will drop in the coming year. Sorry for being pessimistic, but the facts are the facts.
readerOfTeaLeaves said on Tuesday, September 14, 2010:
Intriguing eBook stats; it'll be interesting to track these over the next few years.
Thanks for the summary.