Book Sales Gain 4.1%,
E-Books Up 180 %

NEW YORK,NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/December 17, 2009--Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of October increased by 10.2 percent at $725.8 million and were up by 4.1 percent for the year.

Publishers’ net sales for e-books in particular for the month of October reached $18.5 million for the month of October, compared to $5.2 million last year. Year-to-date sales in aggregate for the period of January-October 2009, reached $130.7 million, compared to $46.6 million in 2008 for the same period last year, reflecting a 180.7% increase. Currently trade market e-books according to AAP reports account for 3% of total trade sales.

On the print side, The Adult Hardcover category rose 6.3 percent in October with sales of $259.9 million; year-to-date sales were up by 3.9 percent. Adult Paperback sales jumped up 37.5 percent for the month ($130.4 million) but were down by 4.8 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category was down 1.8 percent for October with sales totaling $61.2 million; sales were down by 0.4 percent year-to-date. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category declined by 0.5 percent for the month with sales of $87.9 million, but sales for year-to-date increased 4.4 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category was up by 20.2 percent in October with sales totaling $52.7 million, reflecting a 4.1 percent increase for the year.