In August, for the second consecutive month, e-book sales jumped while sales in all print trade segments declined, according to AAP's monthly sales estimates. E-book sales for the 14 reporting companies rose 172.4%, to $39 million, while sales in all trade segments with the exception of juvenile hardcover fell by double digits as return rates skyrocketed. For the first eight months of 2010, e-book sales were $263 million, an increase of 192.9% over the same period in 2009, accounting for 9.0% of trade sales reported by AAP monthly sales participants. Downloadable audio grew more modestly in August, up 4.6%, to $6.3 million, while year-to-date digital audio sales from eight companies rose 28.8%, to $51 million. Sales of traditional audio were off in both the month and eight-month period.

CATEGORY % CHANGE Aug. % CHANGE YTD
Adult Hard (17)* -24.4% 5.2%
Adult Paper (19) -18.3 4.1
Mass Market (9) -21.9 -14.3
Juvenile Hard (14) -8.0 -14.6
Juvenile Paper (14) -15.1 -7.6
Audio (22) -23.4 -6.0
Aud. Download (8) 4.6 28.8
Electronic (14) 172.4 192.9
Religious (18) 0.4 -0.3
Higher Ed. (10) 11.8 12.4
Univ. Pr. Hard (34) 10.2 5.4
Univ. Pr. Paper (34) 15.7 4.7
Professional (8) 14.5 10.7
Elhi (9) -4.9 8.0

(Measured in $ sales against same time periods, 2009)
* Number of reporting companies