Trade Sales Bloom in May
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 7/18/2005
Trade Sales Bloom in May
Category
% Change May
% Change YTD
Adult Hardcover
34.2%
10.7%
Adult Paperback
18.3
7.8
Adult Mass Market
9.5
-0.4
Juvenile Hardcover
21.2
34.8
Juvenile Paperback
7.7
2.4
Audio Books
46.7
20.2
Electronic Books
33.4
38.3
Religious Books
-20.7
-4.7
Higher Education
29.6
5.4
Univ. Pr. Hardcover
-3.4
-13.7
Univ. Pr. Paperback
-14.0
6.0
Professional
4.7
0.6
Elhi
-3.9
4.1
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2004)
May was the strongest month for the trade category so for this year, according to the AAP's monthly sales estimates. Sales were up in every trade segment with the biggest gain coming in adult hardcover, which had a 34.2% increase. After a slow start to the year, the college segment had a good May, with sales up 29.6%. The religious segment continues to find it difficult to match the strong gains of 2004, with sales in May down 20.7% and off 4.7% for the year to date. Sales in the elhi category have cooled since the first quarter, and fell 3.9% in May, though sales were up 4.1% in the first five months of the year.
