Association of American Publishers (AAP) Reports “Double Digit Growth for Trade Publishers in November 2018”

From AAP:

Publishers saw double-digit growth in all categories of trade books -Adult Books (+19.6%), Children’s/Young Adult (+17.3%) and Religious Presses (+14.1%) in November 2018 compared to November 2017. Revenue for trade books (sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, etc.) totaled $7.29 billion for the year-to-date (Jan. – Nov. 2018), up by $330.3 million (+4.7%) compared to the same timeframe in 2017.

In November 2018, overall publisher revenue increased by $167.5 million, (+15.3%) for all tracked categories (Trade, PreK-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses) compared to November 2017. This brings the year-to-date total to $13.53 billion, up $42.3 million (+0.3%) from the same timeframe in 2017.

Trade Publishing

Jan. to Nov: Trade Book Revenue (in millions)

	Jan. – Nov. 2018	Jan. – Nov. 2017	Percent Change
Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction	$4,777.6	$4,547.4	+5.1%
Children’s/YA	$1,960.0	$1,890.7	+3.7%
Religious Presses	$553.4	$522.6	+5.9%
Total	$7,291.0	$6,960.7	+4.7%

While all three categories of trade books saw increased revenue, the industry’s largest category – Adult Books – grew the most. With a revenue increase of $101.5 million (19.6%), Adult Books saw greater growth in November than in any other month in 2017. The month’s growth contributed to a $230.2 million (5.1%) increase in publisher revenue for the year-to-date for Adult Books, with most of the growth from sales of hardback books (+36.3%).

Jan. to Nov.: Total Trade Revenue by Format (in millions)

	Jan. – Nov. 2018	Jan. – Nov. 2017	Percent Change
Hardback	$2,863.8	$2,688.7	+6.5%
Paperback & Mass Market	$2,496.3	$2,447.1	+2.0%
eBooks	$935.3	$962.4	-2.8%
Downloaded Audio	$424.5	$309.7	+37.1%
Physical Audio	$42.3	$54.1	-21.8%
Board Books	$139.8	$134.2	+4.2%
Other	$388.9	$364.5	+6.7%

Hardback books benefitted the most from the uptick in trade book revenue, with +28.5% growth compared to November 2017. Downloaded audio also continued its significant growth in November, up +31.6%.

While they didn’t grow as much as they had in October, eBooks also benefitted from November’s revenue increase with +1.0% growth for the month compared to 2017. The growth came from a revenue increase of Children’s/Young Adult eBooks (+13.2%) and Religious Presses (+19.0%), balancing out the format’s decline (-0.7%) in Adult Books.

Education and Scholarly Publishing

Revenues for education and scholarly publishers were mixed in November, with revenue growth of +8.0% in Higher Ed and +25.4% in Professional Books, and declines in PreK-12 (-7.4%) and University Presses (-15.9%) compared to November 2017. With the exception of Professional Books, the year-to-date (Jan. – Nov.) revenue in all these categories remained down in 2018 compared to the same timeframe in 2017.

Jan. to Nov: Education and Scholarly Publishing (in millions)

	Jan. – Nov. 2018	Jan. – Nov. 2017	Percent Change
Higher Ed Course Materials	$3,033.8	$3,221.5	-5.5%
PreK-12 Instructional Materials	$2,604.3	$2,732.5	-4.7%
Professional Books	$509.3	$498.1	+2.3%
University Presses	$45.5	$49.7	-8.3%

Publisher net revenue is tracked monthly by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and includes revenue from about 1,375 publishers, with participation subject to change over time.

Source

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), News, Publishing, Reports