September Sales Slump
| % Change | % Change | |
| (Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2000) With the exception of some trade book categories, September was a weak month for publishers—seven of the 11 categories had a sales decline, according to AAP's monthly estimates. The strongest segment was children's paperback, where sales were up 49.7% in September compared to September 2000. The adult hardcover segment also had a very good month, with sales ahead 26.4%. The professional book segment had the biggest decline in September, with sales off 28%. Sales in the elhi segment cooled in September, with sales down 17.4%, although the category's 8.5% sales increase through the first nine months of the year was the highest in the industry. The children's hardcover segment, faced with difficult comparisons with the success of last year's Harry Potter books, had the largest decline in the year to date, with sales down 29.1%. Note: In most cases, sales are recorded as books are shipped, thus most of the orders for books "sold" in September were likely ordered before September 11. | ||
| Category | September | YTD |
| Adult Hardcover | 26.4 | -1.7 |
| Adult Paperback | 2.9 | -1.1 |
| Juvenile Hardcover | -22.6 | -29.1 |
| Juvenile Paperback | 49.7 | 2.0 |
| Audio Books | -7.0 | -20.9 |
| Univ. Press Hardcover | -8.0 | -8.3 |
| Univ. Press Paperback | -5.3 | -1.2 |
| Mass Market Paperback | -5.6 | 1.2 |
| Professional | -28.0 | -7.6 |
| College Texts | 3.9 | 7.7 |
| School Texts | -17.4 | 8.5 |
