In Manhattan, June 14. Image – Getty iStockphoto: littleny
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Trade Hardback Revenues Down 10.9 Percent
In its June StatShot report released Thursday (August 18), the Association of American Publishers (AAP) cites total revenues across all categories down slightly—0.2 percent—in the month of June, year over year, for US$895 million.Year-to-date revenues, the AAP reports, for the first six months of 2022 were also down, but not substantially, just 1.6 percent at US$5.5 billion.
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the AAP’s numbers reflect reported revenue for tracked categories including trade (consumer books); Pre-K-12 instructional materials; higher education course materials; professional publishing; and university presses. Once again, however, the PreK-12 numbers aren’t with us, a continual miss, which is attributed monthly to “delays in data collection.”
Trade Revenues
Year-Over-Year Numbers
Trade (consumer books) sales were up 0.4 percent in June, coming in at $652.7 million.
Image: AAP
In print formats:
- Hardback revenues were down 10.9 percent, coming in at $181.3 million
- Paperbacks were up 9.0 percent, with $253.9 million in revenue
- Mass market was up 16.9 percent to $21.4 million
- Special bindings were down 23.8 percent, with $11.0 million in revenue
In digital formats:
- Ebook revenues were down 6.3 percent for the month as compared to June 2021 for a total of $83.0 million.
- Downloaded audio 9.8 percent for June, coming in at $72.4 million in revenue
- Physical audio was down 44.1 percent coming in at $1.0 million
Year-to-Date Numbers
- Year-to-date, the industry’s trade revenues were down 0.8 percent, at $4.2 billion for the first six months of the year.
In print formats:
- Hardback revenues were down 7.9 percent, coming in at $1.4 billion
- Paperbacks were up 9.0 percent, with $1.5 billion in revenue
- Mass market was down 20.9 percent to $95.5 million
- Special bindings were down 1.0 percent, with $79.8 million in revenue
In digital formats:
- Ebook revenues were down 8.5 percent as compared to the first six months of 2021 for a total of $500.4 million
- Downloaded audio was up 3.8 percent, coming in at $400.6 million in revenue
- Physical audio was down 36.4 percent coming in at $7.1 million
Religious Press Performance
Year-Over-Year Numbers
Religious press revenues were down 1.6 percent in June, coming in at $47.2 million.
- Hardback revenues were down 5.2 percent to $24.3 million in revenue
- Paperback revenues were up 2.6 percent to $8.8 million
- Ebook revenues were down 5.3 percent coming in at $4.6 million
- Downloaded audio revenues were up 6.2 percent at $4.0 million
Year-to-Date Numbers
On a year-to-date basis, religious press revenues were down 3.4 percent, reaching $351.0 million.
- Hardback revenues were down 5.9 percent at $201.8 million in revenue
- Paperback revenues were up 4.7 percent to $60.4 million
- Ebook revenues were down 12.1 percent at $27.8 million
- Downloaded audio revenues were up 1.9 percent at $21.5 million
Education
During June 2022 revenues from Higher Education Course Materials were $196.9 million, down 2.0 percent compared with June 2021. Year-to-date Higher Education Course Materials revenues were $1.1 billion, down 5.0 percent compared to the first six months of 2021.
Professional Books
Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were up 5.1 percent during the month, coming in at $37.0 million.
Year-to-date Professional Books revenues were $197.8 million, up 1.5 percent as compared to the first six months of 2021.
Methodology
We’ve edited the following statement only slightly, for alignment with our stylebook.
“AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from US sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,368 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.
- “The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report
- “Like any business, it’s 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’s more accurate than before.”
More from Publishing Perspectives on industry statistics is here. More on the Association of American Publishers is here, more of our coverage of AAP StatShot reports is here, and more on the US market is here.
More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.