For Immediate Release

Contact: Tina Jordan

Ph: 212/255-0200 ext. 262

tjordan@publishers.org

AAP Reports Publishing Sales for Month of July

September 16, 2008, New York, NY: Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of July decreased by 6.7 percent at $1.536 billion and were down by 2.0 percent for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category was up by 9.4 percent in July with sales of $84.9 million; year-to-date sales were down by 5.0 percent. Adult Paperback sales increased 9.6 percent for the month ($113.5 million) and increased by 10.9 percent for the year.The Adult Mass Market category was up by 29.6 percent for July with sales totaling $78.8 million; sales were also up by 3.1 percent year-to-date. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category saw a decrease of 77.2 percent for the month with sales of $58.6 million; sales for year-to-date dropped by 40.8 percent.The Children’s/YA Paperback category was up 36.4 percent in July with sales totaling $45.6 million, reflecting an increase of 13.2 percent for the year.

Audio Book sales posted a decrease of 65.8 percent in July, with sales totaling $11.0 million; sales for the whole year were down by 28.9 percent. E-books sales jumped up by 71.1 percent for the month ($4.5 million); the category also posted an increase of 47.5 percent for the year. Religious Books saw an increase of 24.3 percent for the month with sales of $41.7 million, though sales were down by 7.1 percent for the year.

Sales of University Press Hardcover books dropped 18.4 percent in July with sales of $6.2 million; sales were down by 5.6 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales also posted a decrease of 14.0 percent for the month with sales totaling $9.0 million; sales were down 7.9 percent for the year.Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category dropped 1.5 percent in July ($105.7 million), reflecting a decrease of 2.4 percent for the year.

Higher Education publishing sales increased by 5.4 percent for the month ($958.5 million) and increased 4.7 percent for the year.Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted an increase of 5.0 percent in July with sales of $977.7 million; the category was also up by 3.9 percent for the year.

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’smore than300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.

NOTE: All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales

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