Freelance writers are often also book writers, or at least have plans to write a book soon.
I have two trade paperback hiking guides in print, and I also sell the ebooks you see in the right column, so I pay attention to publishing trends. And you should too.
So here’s the most recent data from the Association of American Publishers on book sales in the United States:
May 24, 2010, New York, NY — Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of March increased by 16.6 percent at $458.2 million and were up by 8.0 percent for the year.
The Adult Hardcover category was up by 15.1 percent in March with sales of $92.0 million; year-to-date sales were up by 3.7 percent. Adult Paperback sales increased 38.2 percent for the month ($123.2 million) and went up by 23.5 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category decreased 18.1 percent for March with sales totaling $53.6 million; sales were also down by 6.6 percent year-to-date. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category declined 12.3 percent for the month with sales of $45.4 million, and sales for year-to-date were down by 35.2 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category increased by 6.1 percent in March with sales totaling $47.0 million; sales fell 8.5 percent for the year.
Audio Book sales posted an increase of 8.6 percent in March with sales totaling $9.8 million; sales for the whole year were up by 14.7 percent. Downloaded Audio Books increased 29.3 percent at sales of $6.2 million; the category was also up 32.5 percent year-to-date. E-book sales jumped up 184.8 percent for the month ($28.5 million), reflecting an increase of 251.9 percent for the year. Religious Books were up 7.0 percent for the month with sales totaling $49.5 million; sales were down by 3.5 percent for the year.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books reflected an 8.9 percent increase in March with sales of $4.8 million; sales decreased by 1.5 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales posted a gain of 13.3 percent for the month with sales totaling $2.7 million; sales were down 2.7 percent for the year. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category rose by 27.3 percent in March ($48.0 million) and were up by 14.3 percent for the year.
Higher Education publishing sales dropped 2.1 percent for the month ($-54.2 million) but increased 18.3 percent for the year. Finally, the K-12 El-Hi (elementary/high school) category posted total net sales of $123.8 million, down 12.4 percent from March 2009, and year-to-date sales were $320.4 million, an 11.9 percent increase.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.
All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales
Note the mixed data. Adult hardcover and paperback sales are up, as are audio books and e-books.
Since most of my freelance writing is for college textbook publishers, I pay particular attention to the strong sales in higher education.
What’s your take on these sales data and the state of publishing in general? Any plans to publish a book or ebook soon?
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