Sales of adult books dropped 4% in April 2017 compared to April 2016 and declined 4.6% in the children’s/young adult category, according to AAP’s StatShot report. The decline in adult book sales was almost entirely due to a 56.5% plunge in sales in the mass market paperback category. Hardcover sales were solid in April, up 7.8%, and downloaded audio sales increased 28.6%. Even with the April decline, sales of adult trade titles were up 1.3% in the first four months of this year over the comparable period in 2016, led by a 24.5% jump in downloaded audio sales. The drop in children’s/YA April sales was due to a 21.6% decline in e-book sales. Sales of all three print formats were up in the month. For the first four months of 2017, sales in the segment were down 3.6% compared to the January–April period in 2016. Despite the decline in the trade areas, overall book sales were up 0.6% in April, and sales for the first four months of 2017 were up 4.2% over the same period last year. Sales for StatShot are based on figures from 1,205 publishers that are provided to the AAP.
| Category | Change April | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard | 7.8% | 14.1% |
| Adult Paper | -6.0% | -2.5% |
| Mass Market | -56.5% | -23.7% |
| Physical Audio | 32.2% | 9.5% |
| Audio Download | 28.6% | 24.5% |
| Adult E-book | -6.0% | -4.3% |
| Children’s/YA | -4.6% | -3.6% |
| Religious Presses | 11.4% | 4.5% |
| Professional | 3.3% | 4.2% |
| K–12 Materials | -2.3% | -1.3% |
| Higher Ed. | 72.2% | 28.5% |
| University Presses | 6.8% | -0.7% |
