Publisher book sales were down 6.6 percent during the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the comparable time frame last year.
Book sales between January and March 2015 generated $2.22 billion as compared to $2.38 billion during the first quarter in 2014. These numbers include sales for Trade -fiction/non-fiction, K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses, and include input from more than 1,200 publishers.
Though sales in Trade Books for the quarter were $1.53 billion, down only 2.2 percent from the same quarter in 2014. Adult book sales helped the category, with book sales up 12 percent in March, and 3.4 percent for the first quarter. Children’s & Young Adults and Religious presses, on the other hand, both saw sales decline during the quarter, down by 15.9 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.