Publishers Earned $5.37B From Book Sales in Q1/Q2: AAP

By Dianna Dilworth 

Publishers earned $5.37 billion from book sales during the first half of 2016, down 3.4 percent as compared to the same time period in 2015, according to a new report from the Association of American Publishers.

The latest AAP StatShot also revealed that publisher book sales for June 2016 in all tracked categories was $1.46 billion, representing a 4.7 percent drop from June 2015. Trade sales during the time frame were down 1.1 percent at $3.03 billion. Adult Books generated $2.11 billion in sales, down 2.8 percent. Childrens/YA Books brought in $689.3 million, up 0.9 percent. Religious Presses generated $222.4 million in sales, up 10.4 percent.

“After a tough first quarter – with trade sales down 7.4 percent from the prior year – second quarter sales have bounced back with 4.6 percent growth,” stated Tom Allen President and CEO of AAP. “Sales of adult, children’s and religious books all increased in the second quarter due to a mix of factors including movie tie-ins, a diversity of titles from small and midsize presses, and religious presses recovering from a tough 2015.”