For Immediate Release

December 7, 2005

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

Publishing Sales Hold Steady in October

December 7, 2005, New York, NY:  Publishing sales remained steady in October for most of the categories tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP).  Children and Young Adult books saw large gains for the month, while university press hardcover books saw a drop.  Net sales were up 5.7 percent for the month, with sales for the year up 6.9 percent.

The sales figure for the adult hardcover category was up 2.6 percent in October with sales of $176.7 million.  This has declined by 1.1 percent in 2005.  Adult paperback sales were up by a solid 16.7 percent (sales totaled $101.9 million).  Sales for this category have grown 9.0 percent over last year’s sales.  The adult mass-market category dipped by 15.8 percent with sales totaling $51.2 million for this category; a slight decrease of 1.7 percent for the year.

The children’s and young adult hardcover category saw a rise of 5.1 percent in October (sales totaled $69.8 million).  This category has done very well in 2005 with sales 80.4 percent greater than last year’s.  The children’s and young adult paperback publishing sales saw a significant increase of 39.8 percent with sales totaling $54.1 million. This category is up by 6.6 percent for the year.

Audio book sales slipped 5.0 percent in October ($15.9 million); year to date sales are 30.6 percent greater than last year’s.  E-books sales continue to grow with an increase of 21.7 percent in October with total sales of  $0.8 million.  This category is up 41.2 percent for the year.  Religious books posted an increase of 11.3 percent ($37.0 million); however, sales were down by 5.8 percent for 2005.

Publishing sales of university press hardcover books showed a 29.3 percent loss in October (sales totaled $6.9 million).  This category has lost 32.8 percent in 2005.  Sales in the university press paperback category gained 33.0 percent with sales totaling $23.2 million; this category has lost 10.2 percent for the year.  Sales in the professional and scholarly category saw a dip of 18.0 percent for the month, with sales of $50.3 million.  Sales in this category are down by 4.3 percent for the year.  Sales of  ‘other’ types of books dipped 20.9 percent in October (totaling $1.4 million); this category is up 4.8 percent for 2005. 

Higher education publishing sales saw a 49.0 percent gain in October with sales totaling $-8.7 million.   This negative amount is due to returns, which were higher than gross sales this month.  This category is up by 6.5 percent for the year.  Finally, the net el-hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category gained 24.5 percent in October, with sales of $221.7 million, allowing for a 10.5 percent year to date growth figure.

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.

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

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