AAP Reports Book Sales Up 4.1% in 2009

AAP Reports Book Sales Up 4.1% in 2009
Year End E-Book Sales Reach $169.5 Million

NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/February 19, 2010--The Association of American Publishers (AAP) reports for the month of December 2009, book sales decreased by 0.2 percent at $1.5 billion but were up by 4.1 percent at $11.2 billion for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category rose 9.7 percent in December with sales of $119.9 million; year-to-date sales were also up by 6.9 percent, reaching $1.6 billion. Adult Paperback sales decreased by 10.3 percent for the month ($119.0 million) and were down by 5.2 percent for the year at $1.4 billion. The Adult Mass Market category declined by 29.6 percent for December with sales totaling $51.9 million; sales were down by 4.0 percent year-to-date at $775.6 million. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category decreased by 49.5 percent for the month with sales of $58.8 million, and sales for year-to-date reached $765.1 million, down by 5.0 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category decreased by 14.1 percent in December with sales totaling $46.8 million, though sales were up by 2.2 percent for the year at $577.7 million.

Audio Book sales posted an increase of 13.0 percent in December with sales totaling $16.4 million; sales to-date decreased by 12.9 percent at $177.2 million. Religious Books saw a 0.6% increase for the month with sales of $52.7 million, though sales were down by 9.0 percent for the year at $588.7 million.

E-books sales reached $19.1 million in December, reflecting a 119.7 percent jump for the month and reached sales of $169.5 million, a 176.6 percent increase, for the year. A ten-year historical on trade e-book sales is below.

Sales of University Press Hardcover books increased 6.4 percent in December at $6.5 million; sales decreased by 3.0 percent for the year with sales of $58.2 million. University Press Paperback sales posted an increase of 9.7 percent for the month with sales totaling $9.2 million; sales were down 0.1 percent for the year totaling $61.8 million. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category reflected a 0.0 percent change in December ($112.6 million) but decreased by 2.9 percent for the year ($766.4 million.)

Higher Education publishing sales rose by 8.5 percent for the month at $910.4 million and increased 12.9 percent for the year with sales reaching $4.2 billion. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted an increase of 46.8 percent in December with sales of $200.0 million; sales declined by 13.8 percent for the year at $3.5 billion.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large.