Industry Sales Rose 3% in 2000, to $25.3 Billion

Large declines in both the adult hardcover and trade paperback segments limited the sales growth for the entire book industry in 2000 to 3.4%. According to preliminary estimates from the Association of American Publishers, total industry sales were $25.32 billion last year, compared to $24.48 billion in 1999, when sales increased 6.3% over 1998.

Sales in the adult hardcover category tumbled 11.6%, to $2.69 billion, in 2000, while trade paperback sales were down 7.2%, to $1.90 billion. The declines in the adult trade categories offset solid increases in the children's category, where hardcover sales rose 13.2%, to $1.20 billion, and paperback sales increased 16.4%, to $753.1 million. Part of the large decline in the adult segments is due to a sharp upward revision in 1999 sales that made the decline in 2000 more dramatic. The new figures show the adult hardcover segment posted a 10.5% increase in 1999 over 1998, rather than the preliminary estimate of 2.6%. The increase in trade paperback sales was revised from 3.2% to 7.3%.

In the mass market paperback segment, the AAP reported a 0.5% increase, to $1.56 billion, in 2000. However, revised figures for the segment in 1999 showed mass market sales up 2.6% over 1998, rather than declining 7.3% as indicated by the preliminary numbers. The AAP said the 1999 preliminary results were revised after it received additional information from publishers. The revisions are not as dramatic in the other publishing segments.

The elhi segment rebounded from a surprisingly weak 1999 to post a 13.3% increase in sales, to $3.88 billion, last year. Professional publishing turned in a good year with sales up 8.7%, to $5.13 billion. The mail-order segment delivered the biggest surprise, with a decade-long slide in sales stopped by the category recording a 4.6% sales gain to $431.8 million. Pressure from the Internet and the integration of Doubleday Direct and Book-of-the-Month Club into Bookspan contributed to a mere 1.5% sales gain in the book-club segment, to $1.29 billion.

After two years of better than 8% gains, sales in the higher-education segment cooled in 2000, rising 3.5% to $3.24 billion. Sales of standardized tests rose 7.0%, to $234.1 million, while subscription reference sales increased 2.6%, to $809.1 million. Sales in the religion segment rose 2.5%, to $1.25 billion.

In addition to the adult trade segment, the only other category to post a decline in the year was university presses, where sales fell 2.4%, to $402 million.