For Immediate Release

March 30, 2005

Contact: Kathryn Blough
Ph: 212-255-0200 x263

Book Sales Dip in February

Book sales in February took a downward turn, with most categories tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) showing slight losses for the month following strong January gains. The children's young adult hardcover category did grow impressively, however, mitigating February setbacks. Sales of adult hardcover books lost 22.3 percent in February, with sales of $63.5 million (down 1.8 percent for the year). Adult paperback sales witnessed an 8.4 percent loss as well in February (sales totaled $66.7 million). The year to date figure for this category is down 3.7 percent. The adult mass market category lost 43.2 percent in February, with sales of $25.9 million for this category that lost 11.5 percent since January. The children's and young adult hardcover category posted an astronomical 54.4 percent gain in February ($34.7 million); this category maintains a 56.2 percent growth figure for the year. The children's and young adult paperback publishing sales witnessed a 25.6 percent loss in February with sales totaling $23.2 million. This category has lost 6.3 percent in 2005. Audio book sales witnessed a 13.0 percent decline in February sales ($9.8 million), and sales are up 2.0 percent for the year. E-books sales grew by 19.5 percent in February ($1.1 million); this rapidly expanding category is up 39.5 percent for the year. Religious books lost 3.2 percent in February; sales are down by 0.4 percent in 2005 (February sales totaled $35.6 million). Sales for university press hardcover books suffered a 7.0 percent loss in February ($9.5 million). This category has lost 10.7 percent in 2005. Sales in the university press paperback category lost 15.3 percent in February (sales totaled $11.5 million); this category is down a slight 4.1 percent for the year. Sales in the professional and scholarly category gained 1.2 percent in February, with sales of $35.6 million; sales in that category are down 0.7 percent for the year. Sales of other types of books witnessed a loss of 103.4 percent in February (a net loss of $100,000), and the year to date figure is resultantly down 53.0 percent for the year for this catchall category. Higher education publishing sales lost 67.8 percent in February (sales totaled $2.4 million); this category is down 4.0 percent for the year. Finally, the net el-hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category grew 17.6 percent in February, with sales of $99.6 million, allowing for a 15.4 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. NOTE: All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales.

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