Category % Change May % ChangeYTD
(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2002)
With the exception of the adult hardcover and children's paperback categories, the print segments tracked by the AAP had a decline in sales in May, compared to May 2002. The good news was that for the first time this year, monthly sales in the adult hardcover segment rose, up 23.7%, and sales of children's paperbacks increased 13%. The only other segments to post gains in May were spoken-word audio, up 1.2%, and electronic books, where sales from the eight reporting publishers rose 300%, to $400,000. The worst performing segments were higher education, with sales down 47.7%, and religion, where sales were off 43.2%. The elhi segment began to show the first signs of tightening funding in May, with sales down 7.8%; sales of basal programs were particularly soft, falling 11.7%. Supplemental sales were up 14% in the month. For the first five months of 2003, sales were up in seven segments and down in six.
Adult Hardcover 23.7 -22.8
Adult Paperback -27.1 -12.5
Adult Mass Market -6.7 29.1
Juvenile Hardcover -1.8 -19.1
Juvenile Paperback 13.0 -4.1
Audio Books 1.2 -14.1
Electronic Books 300.0 185.2
Religious Books -43.2 56.3
Higher Education -47.7 -2.0
Univ. Pr. Hardcover -5.5 15.1
Univ. Pr. Paperback -14.8 10.3
Professional -12.8 1.3
Elhi -7.8 4.1