Publishers book sales for trade (consumer) books were down 1.1 percent from January to August 2015, as compared to the same time frame in 2014, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) revealed today.
Publisher revenue during the eight-month period was $10.4 billion, down 2.3 percent over last year. The metrics include sales data from more than 1,200 publishers including: trade – fiction/non-fiction/religious, K-12 instructional materials, higher education course materials, professional publishing, and university presses.
E-books were down 11 percent in during the timeframe in 2015, comparable to 2014. Hardback title sales were down 7.7 percent year-to-date compared to the same timeframe last year. Here is more from the press release:
Downloaded audio and paperback remain the formats with the most growth. Downloaded audio increased 43.3% in August, compared to August 2014. This brings the year-to-date growth for this format to 37.8%, compared to the same timeframe in 2014. Paperback Books showed growth in all trade categories, and is up 12.2% year-to-date compared to the same time in 2014.