The Association of American Publishers released its July book sale statistics this morning, reporting an increase in sales of 20 percent for the month, which raises the year-to-date sales by 11.5 percent. I think we all know where the spike is coming from, right? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which caused sales in the children’s and YA hardcover category to rise 504.2 percent for the month, with total sales in the category of $255.1 million, while audiobooks went up 240.8 percent, cashing in at $32.1 million. But while adult hardcovers were up 28.6 percent, adult and children’s paperbacks both took significant hits, adult mass markets were down nearly 25 percent for the month, and children’s by nearly 26 percent.
Still, you got to figure, this is a windfall so huge, even America’s bookstores can’t possibly find a way to have lost sales for the month. So we’ll see what those stats reveal when the Census Bureau releases them later this month.