With all major categories except the children’s/young adult segment reporting an increase in 2013, total book sales at the 1,211 publishers that report results to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program grew 1% over 2012 figures, to $15.05 billion. The 6.6% drop in the children’s/YA segment was due to double-digit declines in sales of hardcovers and e-books—the two formats that benefited the most from the success of the Hunger Games in 2012. The adult trade segment managed to post a 0.8% increase in 2013, even as it faced difficult comparisons with sales of the Fifty Shades trilogy the previous year. Adult e-book sales rose 3.8% last year (after growing 33.4% in 2012), offsetting a 1.1% decline in print sales at publishers that report to StatShot.
Combined e-book sales for the adult and children’s trade groups fell 1% in 2013, to $1.47 billion, and total sales for the two groups fell by almost the same amount, dropping 1.1%, to $6.44 billion. E-books’ share of the adult trade market rose to 26.6% last year, at companies that report to AAP in that category, compared to 25.9% in 2012. E-books accounted for 10.9% of children’s/YA sales in 2013, compared to 13.9% the prior year.
In the religious presses segment, e-book sales rose 9.7% in 2013, to $63.6 million, accounting for 11.1% of sales at companies reporting to StatShot. E-book sales in the university press segment increased 31%, to $12.2 million, representing 10.3% of segment sales.
StatShot sales are based on actual sales from reporting publishers. Later this year, AAP and the Book Industry Study Group will release estimates for the entire book market through its BookStats program.
Trade Sales, 2012–2013
($ in millions)
| Adult Books | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | 2012 | 2013 | % CHANGE | |
| Hardcover | $1,390.5 | $1,525.2 | 9.7% | |
| Trade Paperback | 1,503.4 | 1,362.8 | -9.3 | |
| Mass Market | 404.3 | 373.1 | -7.7 | |
| Total Print | 3,298.2 | 3,261.1 | -1.1 | |
| E-book | 1,253.1 | 1,300.9 | 3.8 | |
| Adult Audiobooks | ||||
| Physical | $78.2 | $78.4 | 0.2% | |
| Downloaded | 111.0 | 131.6 | 18.6 | |
| Other | 102.7 | 107.6 | 3.8 | |
| Total Adult | 4,843.2 | 4,879.7 | 0.8 | |
| Children’s/YA | ||||
| Hardcover | $823.4 | $733.3 | -10.9% | |
| Paperback | 491.2 | 518.4 | 5.5 | |
| Board Books | 61.4 | 74.0 | 20.5 | |
| Total Print | 1,376.0 | 1,325.7 | -4.6 | |
| E-book | 232.5 | 170.5 | -26.7 | |
| Other | 63.5 | 65.3 | 2.8 | |
| Total Children’s/YA | 1,672.1 | 1,561.6 | -6.6 | |
Industry Category Sales, 2012–2013
($ in millions)
| 2012 | 2013 | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Books | $4,843.2 | $4,879.7 | 0.8% |
| Children’s/YA | 1,672.1 | 1,561.6 | -6.6 |
| Religious Presses | 561.2 | 572.0 | 1.9 |
| Professional Books | 711.0 | 732.9 | 3.1 |
| K-12 Instr. Materials | 2,725.1 | 2,847.4 | 4.5 |
| Higher Ed. Materials | 4,238.7 | 4,298.9 | 1.4 |
| University Presses | 115.5 | 118.9 | 2.9 |
| Other | 32.4 | 40.8 | 25.7 |
| Total | 14,899.6 | 15,052.1 | 1.0 |
Source for charts: Association of American Publishers StatShot Program.
