For Immediate Release

May 5, 2005

Contact: Tina Jordan
Ph: 212-255-0200 x263
Email: tjordan@publishers.org

Publishing Sales Grow with March Sales Thaw

The March thaw rejuvenated publishing sales. Eight categories tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) experienced gains in March, with only five categories showing slight losses; the net sales growth was 12.2 percent for that month. Adult paperback, adult mass market, and children's and young adult hardcover books fared the best. Sales of adult hardcover lost a slight 0.8 percent in March, with sales of $90.9 million (down 1.4 percent for the year). This loss was easily offset by gains in adult paperback sales, which witnessed a 23.0 percent gain (sales totaled $93.1 million). The year to date figure for this category has grown to 5.4 percent over last year's sales. The adult mass market category also grew significantly in March by 27.0 percent with sales of $69.0 million for this category, which is up 3.3 percent for the year. The children's and young adult hardcover category posted an incredible 26.6 percent gain in March ($33.8 million); this category maintains a 44.5 percent growth figure for the year. The children's and young adult paperback publishing sales grew 17.4 percent in March with sales totaling $35.4 million. This category is up by 2.9 percent in 2005. Audio book sales witnessed a 17.6 percent growth in March sales ($13.5 million), and sales are up by a widening 8.0 percent margin for the year. E-books sales grew by 12.6 percent in March ($1.0 million); this rapidly expanding category is up 29.5 percent for the year. Religious books lost 11.7 percent in February; sales are down by 4.2 percent in 2005 (March sales totaled $27.4 million). Sales for university press hardcover books suffered a 19.0 percent loss in March ($10.0 million). This category has lost 13.7 percent in 2005. Sales in the university press paperback category, however, grew by 49.7 percent in March (sales totaled $27.3 million); this category is up 15.5 percent for the year. Sales in the professional and scholarly category lost a slight 4.3 percent in March, with sales of $41.4 million; sales in that category are down 2.0 percent for the year. Sales of 'other' types of books witnessed a gain of 14.2 percent in March (totaling $1.4 million), and the year to date figure is slowly edging up, narrowing the sales deficit in 2005 to 37.2 percent for this catchall category. Higher education publishing sales lost 8.1 percent in March; this category is down 6.2 percent for the year. Finally, the net el-hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category grew 13.7 percent in March, with sales of $154.6 million, allowing for a 14.2 percent year to date growth rate. The Association of American Publishers is the principal trade association for the U.S. book publishing industry with over 300 members, comprising most of the major commercial book publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and medium-sized houses, non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies.

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