Big Gains, Losses in June

There were some big winners and losers among the different publishing segments in June. According to AAP's monthly estimates, sales in the children's hardcover segment plunged 82% in June, as the category faced difficult comparisons with June 2003, when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixbroke sales records. In contrast, the adult hardcover segment benefited from record-breaking nonfiction sales of My Life, which helped to push sales up 58.7% in June. The university press segment, which began perking up in May, had another solid month, with June sales up by more than 95% in both the hardcover and paperback segments. The higher education segment also continued to rally in June, with sales up 23.5%. Sales in the elhi segment slumped again in the month with a 24% decline in basal sales offsetting a 7.9% increase in supplementary sales. The biggest increase among AAP's print segments in the first six months of the year was in the adult hardcover and religious categories, which both had a 26.9% gain. Children's hardcover sales had the largest decline, down 44.1%.