Sales Stats

U.S. trade publishers earned a net sales revenue of $357.4 million from export sales in 2011, according to a new report from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). This was a 7.2 percent increase from $333.3 million the net sales revenue earned in 2010.

According to the report, about 90 percent of U.S. publishers export English-language print and/or eBooks to more than 200 countries worldwide. eBook sales abroad are growing even faster.

Check it out: “Total eBook net sales revenue for 2011 was $21.5 million, a gain of 332.6% over 2010; this represents 3.4 million eBook units sold in 2011, up 303.3 %. As comparison, print formats (Hardcover, Paperback and Mass Market Paperback) increased 2.3% to $335.9 million in 2011. In 2011, eBook sales grew 218.8% in Continental Europe, 1316.8% in the UK, 201.6% in Latin America and 636.8% in Africa.”

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According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report for February, the children’s and young adult categories saw massive growth in February.

The categories saw a nearly 72 percent increase in hardcover sales and almost 63 percent increase in paperback sales compared to the same period last year. Overall children’s and YA sales jumped by 74.6 percent, up from $153.3 million in February 2011 to $267.6 million this January.

Check it out: “Coming off strong January 2012, Children’s/YA physical book sales again demonstrated high double-digit increases over Feb 2011 and over YTD 2011; the C/YA eBooks segment again showed impressive triple-digit gains in both monthly and YTD comparisons. According to some publishers, this is primarily due to the ongoing success of several blockbuster franchises in YA and Children’s markets.  Also noted was the escalating trend of Adults reading YA titles, particularly in eBook format.”

According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report for January, the children’s and young adult categories saw massive growth in January.

The categories saw a nearly 69 percent increase in hardcover sales and almost 62 percent increase in paperback sales compared to the same period last year. Overall trade sales jumped by 27 percent, up from $396 million in January 2011 to $503.5 million this January.

Check it out: “While Children’s/Young Adult physical format Hardcover and Paperback both saw strong double-digit growth ( and 61.9% respectively), AAP’s first monthly data on Children’s/YA eBooks showed a massive +475.1% increase from 2011 to 2012. Some publishers have attributed this to the availability of more options for devices aimed at those demographics as well as a number of popular new releases.”

According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report for December (chart embedded above), adult mass market paperback sales dropped 40.9 percent compared to the same period the year before. Overall trade sales declined almost three percent, dipping from $561.3 million to $545.1 million.

As you can see by the year-to-date chart embedded below, overall trade book sales saw a four percent drop and mass market paperback sales declined nearly 36 percent for the year. While eBook sales increased 117 percent last year, they still have not closed the gap with declining print sales.

Here’s more from the release: “The December report represents data provided by 77 publishers and only sales of the participants are reported. NOTE: All numbers have been rounded to one decimal point and may not add up to 100%.”

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According to the latest Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, adult hardcover sales plunged 20.9 percent in November 2011, dipping from $219.9 million to $174 million compared to the same period the year before. At the same time, total trade book sales dipped 3.5 percent.

Above, we have embedded a year-to-date chart above for 2011, but we still need to wait for the December numbers to get a complete picture of book sales in 2011.

Here’s more from the release, drawn from publishers’ insights: “While the November over November e-books number [65.9 percent increase] is still high, it dropped below the triple-digit percentages we’ve seen in the past year.  The year-to-date percentage growth remains pretty consistent with what we’ve been seeing all year.”

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According to the latest Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, the adult mass paperback category declined nearly 38 percent (to $37.2 million) in October compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, adult hardcover sales dropped 17 percent (to $213.3 million) while eBook sales increased 81 percent (to $72.8 million). Above, we’ve embedded the AAP’s sales chart for the year-to-date–including a 4.5 percent decline in total trade revenues the year so far.

Here’s more from the release: “For the second month of the Fall sales season but ahead of the traditional holiday purchasing window, several categories showed declines while others, particularly those which have seen continuing growth over the past year, have maintained momentum … Details for the above follow.  The October report represents data provided by 80 publishers and is produced by the Association of American Publishers.”

According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report for September 2011, the adult mass paperback category declined 54 percent (to $31 million) in September compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, adult hardcover sales dropped 18 percent (to $148.3) while eBook sales doubled to $80.3 million. Above, we’ve embedded the AAP’s sales chart.

Here’s more: “With September also being the start of the 2011-2012 academic year, Higher Education showed a nearly 9% gain in net revenue vs September 2010. Additionally, there was significant growth in the category of Professional Books (in the Professional and Scholarly Publishing division) in September, increasing nearly 13% … The September report represents data provided by 80 US publishers and is produced by the Association of American Publishers.”

According to Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, adult hardcover sales decreased 11 percent in August and adult paperback sales dipped nearly six percent. As you can see by the year-to-date chart embedded above, both categories have seen 18 percent declines this year.

Nevertheless, the AAP stayed positive about eBook sales: “Strong, continuing revenue gains from digital formats in the Trade market – both e-books and downloaded audiobooks – helped offset declines in revenue from physical formats, resulting in only nominal, near-identical decreases vs the previous year’s and YTD’s figures … The survey also noted 96% of e-reader users say they purchased one or more e-books in the past year and 36% of e-reader users are reading more than a year ago.”

Do you think eBook sales can ever replace these growing declines in print sales?

According to Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report, summer readers rocked the hardcover market in July. Sales in this category rose nearly 34 percent compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, adult paperback sales declined almost 30 percent. As you can see by the Year to Date chart embedded above, adult paperback sales have declined 20 percent and adult hardcover sales are down nearly 18 percent compared to last year.

Once again, eBooks posted massive gains. Here’s more from the release: “In the midst of the summer books season, Adult Hardcovers enjoyed a significant year-to-year monthly net sales revenue increase of more than 30%.  E-Books continue a consistent monthly triple-digit percentage growth track while Downloaded Audiobooks also show another month of increased revenue.”

According to Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue figures for June 2011, net revenues from adult paperback sales plunged nearly 64 percent compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, eBook sales were up 161 percent–read more at eBookNewser. See the eye-popping figures in the AAP’s chart embedded above–five major print categories all recorded decreases.

Here’s more from the release: “Note that the year-to-date figures represent the halfway point for 2011.  Also note that these figures represent 79 publishers reporting data in all four markets (Trade, K-12, Higher Ed and PSP);15 of them also provided data on e-Books.”