What’s A Summer Without Harry Potter Look Like?

Following reports of another 7 percent drop in bookstore sales, the Association of American Publishers has released its own data for July indiciating a 6.7 percent decline for the month—which brings the year-to-date performance down to a 2.0 percent drop. Of course, considering that children’s/YA hardcover sales are down 77.2 percent as compared to July 2007, when some book about a sullen teenager and his dead gay mentor fighting an undead wizard for control of a private school in England was all the rage, the results might not be all that surprising. Sales in all the adult categories were up substantially, as were children’s/YA paperbacks, and sales of electronic editions continue to rise: 71.1 percent for July, and 47.5 percent for the year.

Still, while a report earlier this week from the Audio Publishers Association cited a 12 percent gain in audiobook sales for 2007, the AAP claims sales in the first seven months of 2008 have been down nearly 29 percent and tumbled 65.8 percent in July—although that decline might also be attributable to the void left by the end of Pottermania.

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