For Immediate Release

March 10, 2006

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

Book Sales Make Small Gains in the New Year

March 10, 2006, New York, NY:  Publishing sales showed small gains for the first month of the new year for most of the categories tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP).  Adult Paperback continued to grow while Children’s /YA Hardcover took a small dip for the month.  Net sales were up by 2.2 percent.

Sales for the Adult Hardcover category took a slide of 23.7 percent for January with sales of $52.0 million.  Adult Paperback sales were strong in the new year with an increase of 26.3 percent (sales totaled $97.0 million).  However, the Adult Mass-Market category saw a loss of 10.5 percent for January with sales totaling $45.6 million for this category.

The Children’s/YA Hardcover category saw a slight decline of 3.0 percent in January with sales totaling $30.1 million.  The Children’s/YA Paperback publishing sales continued to rise with an increase of 31.7 percent with sales totaling $29.8 million.

Audio Book sales posted a small decline of 0.1 percent in January with sales totaling $9.1 million.  E-books performed well with an increase of 50.3 percent in January with total sales of $1.5 million.  Religious Books posted a decrease of 29.3 percent ($18.0 million).

Sales of University Press Hardcover books saw a 22.1 percent loss in January with sales of $7.5 million.  University Press Paperback sales rose 9.7 percent with sales totaling $20.9 million.  Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category saw a gain of 11.4 percent for the month, with sales of $49.2 million.

Higher Education publishing sales saw an 8.6 percent gain in January with sales totaling $224.3 million.  Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category dipped by 9.9 percent in January, with sales of $83.8 million.

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry.  AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial book publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies.  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 intellectual freedom and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s primary concerns.

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

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