Bookstore sales slipped 1% in October, to $799 million, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. For the first 10 months of the year, bookstore sales were down 1.5%, to $10.89 billion, compared to the same period in 2012.

For the entire retail segment, October sales rose 4.7%, while sales for the first 10 months of 2013 were up 4.2%