From Publishing Perspectives:
In the StatShot report released Thursday (May 27) by the Association of American Publishers, the United States’ total revenues across all categories monitored by the system were up in March 40.2 percent as compared to March 2020. That brings the monetary figure to US$896.1 million.
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As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the AAP’s numbers reflect reported revenue for tracked categories including trade (consumer books); K-12 instructional materials; higher education course materials; professional publishing; and university presses.
Trade Revenues
The trade’s sales are being reported up 34.2 percent in March, coming in at $743.9 million, and up 24.9 percent year-to-date, with $2.1 billion in revenue.
Year-Over-Year Numbers
In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of March, in the trade category–remember, this is consumer books):
- Hardback revenues were up 50.9 percent, coming in at $293.7 million
- Paperbacks were up 27.7 percent, with $239.9 million in revenue
- Mass market was up 34.6 percent to $20.6 million
- Board books were up 46.5 percent, with $15.3 million in revenue
- Ebook revenues were up 21.0 percent for the month as compared to March of 2020 for a total of $88 million
- The downloaded audio format–about which so many in the industry are enthusiastic–was up 16.7 percent for March, coming in at $58.5 million in revenue
- Physical audio was down 16.1 percent coming in at $1.6 million, the ongoing downward glide of formats now overtaken by digital
Year-to-Date Numbers
In Q1 2021:
- Hardback revenues were up 34.0 percent, at $765.3 million
- Paperbacks were up 19.3 percent, with $651.2 million in revenue
- Mass market was up 36.6 percent to $61.8 million
- Board books were up 9.8 percent, with $44.9 million in revenue
- Ebook revenues were up 20.7 percent as compared to the first three months of 2020 for a total of $278.2 million
- Downloaded audio was up 21.0 percent, at $189.4 million in revenue
- Physical audio was down 5.3 percent, at $4.8 million
Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives
PG says if anyone sees any stats for Amazon’s year-over-year book sales for Q1 2021, he would appreciate it if you would forward him a link or message the Contact PG button toward the top of the blog.