From Publishing Perspectives:
In its September 2023 StatShot report released this morning (December 12), the Association of American Publishers (AAP) cites total revenues across all categories to have been flat as compared to September 2022, at US1.4 billion.
The American market’s year-to-date revenues, the AAP reports, were up 0.8 percent at US$9.4 billion for the first nine months of the year.
As Katy Hershberger at Publishers Lunch today is noting, children’s books continued to gain in September, up 5.2 percent over the same month in 2022, sales this year reaching $272.8 million.
Publishing Perspectives readers know, that the AAP’s numbers reflect reported revenue for tracked categories including trade (consumer books); higher education course materials; and professional publishing.
. . . .
Trade Book Revenues
Year-Over-Year Numbers
Trade revenues were down 0.4 percent in September over the same month last year, at $905.9 million.
In print formats:
- Hardback revenues were up 7.2 percent, coming in at $379 million
- Paperbacks were down 4.9 percent, with $299.1 million in revenue
- Mass market was down 39.5 percent to $11.3 million
- Special bindings were up 11.8 percent, with $27.1 million in revenue
In digital formats:
- Ebook revenues were down 1.8 percent for the month as compared to September 2022, for a total of $85.2 million
- The closely monitored digital audio format was up 3.2 percent for September 2022, coming in at $69.9 million in revenue
- Physical audio was down 24.4 percent, coming in at $1.2 million
Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives
PG notes that the Association of American Publishers includes far more publishers than the large trade fiction and non-fiction publishers in New York City, the ones that the New York Times uses for its best-seller lists.
The AAP stats include educational publishers that provide textbooks for all of the different levels of education in the US. It also includes religious publishers and business publishers providing books for the business, medical, law, technical and scientific markets.