Book Sales, Bookstores Continue Disconnect

By Neal 

The Association of American Publishers reports a 12.6 percent rise in net book sales for the month of February…little more than a week after Publishers Weekly reported an estimated 6.5 percent decline in bookstore sales for the same month. Couple that to the similar disparities occurring in January, and you’ve got sales up 10.2 percent compared to the first two months in 2006, except in bookstores where they decline by 3.1 percent.