Adult Paperback Sales Down 7.7% in March

According to Association of American Publishers (AAP) sales figures for March, adult hardcover sales increased 6 percent and adult paperback sales declined nearly 8 percent compared to the same period last year.

Here’s more from the release: “In the Trade books division (general consumer fiction and non-fiction), Adult Paperbacks were the top-selling category at $115.9 Million, followed by Adult Hardcover at $96.6M, e-Books at $69.0M, Religious books at $63.5M and Adult Mass Market at $55.2M.”

After months of declines, the adult mass market paperback market actually increased one percent. Below you can check out AAP’s entire sales comparison chart.

*Category                             March 2011                 March 2010                 % Change

Adult Hardcover                      $96.6M                        $91.2M                        +6.0%

Adult Paperback                      $115.9M                      $125.6M                      -7.7%

Adult Mass Market                   $55.2M                        $54.5M                        +1.2%

E-Books                                  $69.0M                        $28.1M                        +145.7%

Religious Books                      $63.5M                        $49.8M                        +27.4%

University Press Hardcover    $4.4M                          $4.5M                          -1.9%

University Press Paperback   $2.6M                          $2.5M                          +7.1%

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