The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report covering the first three months of 2024 reflecting reported revenue for Trade (Consumer Books), Religious Presses, Higher Education Course Materials, and Professional Publishing.
Total revenues across all categories for the first quarter of the year were up 0.2% as compared to the first three months of 2023, coming in at $3 billion.
Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues for First Quarter of 2024
Trade (Consumer Books) sales were down 2.8% during the first three months of the year, coming in at $2.1 billion.
In terms of physical paper format revenues during the first quarter, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 4.9%, coming in at $733.2 million; Paperbacks were down 3.4%, with $756.1 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 25.7% to $31.0 million; and Special Bindings were down 7.8%, with $48.5 million in revenue.
eBook revenues were down 1.5% as compared to the first three months of 2023, for a total of $255.6 million. Digital Audio was up 15.3% for the first three months, coming in at $243.6 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 29.1% coming in at $2.1 million.
Source: AAP
Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues by Month
January
Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 0.6% in January, coming in at $745.8 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of January, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 0.8%, coming in at $268.8 million; Paperbacks were down 2.1%, with $264.4 million in revenue; Mass Market was up 7.4% to $13.6 million; and Special Bindings were up 4.9%, with $17.1 million in revenue.
February
Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 0.6% in February, coming in at $717.9 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of February, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 0.4%, coming in at $245.2 million; Paperbacks were up 2.5%, with $249.1 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 40.7% to $9.3 million; and Special Bindings were down 1.4%, with $16.6 million in revenue.
March
Trade (Consumer Books) sales were down 9.5% in March, coming in at $661.2 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of March, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 14.4%, coming in at $219.2 million; Paperbacks were down 10.0%, with $242.6 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 39.6% to $8.2 million; and Special Bindings were down 24.0%, with $14.9 million in revenue.
Religious Presses Up 5.2% First Quarter of 2024
Religious press revenues were up 5.2% during the first three months of 2024, coming in at $215.2 million. Hardback revenues were up 7.6% to $130.1 million in revenue, Paperback revenues were down 0.3% to $42.3 million, eBook revenues were up 6.6% coming in at $15.2 million, and Digital Audio revenues were up 9.5% at $12.7 million.
Education Revenues Climb 11.5% During First Quarter of 2024
During Quarter 1, revenues from Higher Education Course Materials were $691.8 million, up 11.5% compared with Quarter 1 2023.
Within Higher Education Course Materials, Print revenues were up 16.0% at $87.4 million for the quarter. Inclusive Access revenues were up 25.9% at $256.1 million, and Non-Inclusive Access Digital revenues were up 1.8% at $321.3 million.
Professional Books Down 2.9% for First Quarter of 2024
Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were down 2.9% during the first three months of the year, coming in at $111.5 million.
AAP’s StatShot
AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,280 publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.
StatShot reports are designed to give ongoing revenue snapshots across publishing sectors using the best data currently available. The reports reflect participants’ most recent reported revenue for current and previous periods, enabling readers to compare revenue on both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.
Monthly and yearly StatShot reports may not align completely across reporting periods, because: a) The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report; and b) Like any business, it is common accounting practice for publishing houses to update and restate their previously reported revenue data. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports first indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports to AAP, permitting AAP in turn to report information that is more accurate than previously reported.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
