Association of American Publishers Releases September 2019 Statshot Report; Downloaded Audio Revenues Increase 24.3%; E-Book Revenues Down 1.3% (vs. Sept. 2018)

From the Association of American Publishers:

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its September 2019 StatShot reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (consumer publications), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing and University Presses.

Overall publisher revenue for the month was $1.54 billion, an increase of 8.4% as compared to September of 2018. Total sales in 2019 so far were $11.4 billion, an increase of 4.0% over the same period last year.

Trade Categories

• The Children and Young Adult category reached $243.4 million in revenues, an increase of 3.5% over the same month last year.
• Adult books were $479.3 million, an increase of 3.5% compared to September 2018.

	Sept. 2019	Sept. 2018	Percent Change
Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction	$479.3	$463.1	3.5%
Children’s/YA	$243.4	$235.2	3.5%
Religious Presses	$59.4	$61.3	-3.0%
Total Trade	$782.2	$759.5	3.0%

Trade Formats

• Paper formats once again dominated Trade, accounting for $588.1 million, or 75.2% of the category’s $782.2 million in revenue for the month of September.

• Among Paper formats, paperback books saw the most growth, climbing 9.1% compared to the same month last year.

• Downloaded Audio increased 24.3% over the same month in 2018, coming in at $52.0 million for the month. The Downloaded Audio category has seen consistent growth every month since AAP began tracking it in 2012.

• eBook revenues decreased by 1.3% as compared to September 2018, coming in at $82.5 million.

Trade Revenues By Format

(in millions)

	Sept. 2019	Sept. 2018	Percent Change
Hardback	$335.5	$344.3	-2.6%
Paperback	$221.5	$203.0	9.1%
Mass Market	$14.9	$18.0	-17.4%
Board Books	$16.3	$18.4	-11.4%
eBooks	$82.5	$83.6	-1.3%
Downloaded Audio	$52.0	$41.8	24.3%
Physical Audio	$3.6	$3.9	-5.6%
Other	$55.9	$46.5	20.2%
Total	$782.2	$759.5	3.0%

Educational Materials

• Pre-K-12 Instructional Materials stood out during the month, coming in at $267.2 million, an increase of 31.7% compared to the same period last year. September 2019 marked the seventh consecutive month that participating publishers have reported growth in the category.
• Higher Ed Course Materials revenues were $437.4 million, an increase of 5.9% over the same period last year.

Total Sales	Sept. 2019	Sept. 2018	Percent Change
Adult Books	$479.3	$463.1	3.5%
Childrens & Young Adult Books	$243.4	$235.2	3.5%
Religious Presses	$59.4	$61.3	-3.0%
Professional Books	$44.7	$36.4	22.7%
K-12 Instructional Materials	$267.2	$203.0	31.7%
Higher Educational Course Materials	$437.4	$413.1	5.9%
University Presses	$4.3	$4.3	-0.5%
All Other	$3.5	$4.0	-11.2%
Total	$1,539.3	$1,420.3	8.4%

Professional Publishing

• Professional Publishing, including Business, Medical and Law, Technical and Scientific, increased 22.7% during the period, reaching $44.7 million for the month.

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