July was a good month for both the adult trade and the children’s/young adult segments. According to figures from AAP’s StatShot program, sales in the adult hardcover category jumped 43.1% over July 2014, helped by the release of the blockbuster Go Set a Watchman. Adult trade paperback sales also did well in the month, offsetting a 6.7% decline in e-book sales and a 23.9% drop in mass market paperback sales. The children’s/YA segment, which had a difficult first six months of 2015, posted a 11.5% increase in July over a year ago. July’s gain was led by sales of board books (up 27.1%) and paperbacks (ahead 23.6%), which offset a 39% decline in e-book sales. For the first seven months of 2015, sales in the children’s/young adult segment were still down 8.9%, with declines in hardcover and e-books countering gains in sales of board books and paperbacks. Across all publishing segments, July sales were up 2.8% but sales in the year to date fell 2%. Sales for AAP StatShot are based on reports from 1,206 publishers.

Category Change July YTD
Adult Hard 43.1% -0.9%
Adult Paper 18.4% 15.8%
Mass Market -23.9% -8.8%
Physical Audio 15.5% 6.9%
Audio Download 33.8% 41.0%
Adult E-book -6.7% -4.7%
Children’s/YA 11.5% -8.9%
Religious Presses 14.6% -4.9%
Professional 33.8% 23.4%
K–12 Materials 1.4% -6.4%
Higher Ed. -3.3% -6.0%
University Presses 2.9% -0.7%

(Comparisons of $ sales against same period in 2014)