Print Book Sales Rose 8.2% in 2020 (publishersweekly.com)

More evidence has come in that points to 2024 being a very good year for sales of religion books. For the first half of 2024, unit sales of print religious book rose 12.1% over the comparable period in 2023 at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. The gain came entirely from nonfiction titles, which rose 12.8% offsetting a 5% decline in the much smaller fiction category. Religion was the best performing category among all adult nonfiction subject areas in the first half of the year, and sales easily outperformed total print sales in the first six months of 2024, which were down 0.4% from a year ago.

Barnes & Noble announces the sale of Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. to Hachette Book Group. The publisher was acquired by Barnes & Noble in 2003 and now includes adult imprints Union Square & Co., Puzzlewright Press, Sterling Ethos and Spark Notes, as well the children’s imprints Union Square Kids and Boxer Books; and the gift and stationery publishers Knock Knock and Em & Friends. It is the publisher of New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Mo Willems, recent New York Times bestselling authors Caroline Chambers and Dan Pelosi, and acclaimed authors Melissa Blair, L.S. Stratton, and Dusti Bowling, among others, as well as a dynamic program of literary classics. Sterling has been led by Emily Meehan since 2021 who oversaw the rebranding in January 2022 to Union Square & Co., influenced by its New York City’s Union Square Park headquarters. The company will remain under the leadership of Emily, who will report into Ben Sevier, President and Publisher of the Grand Central Publishing Group, a division of Hachette Book Group. All Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.’s staff, publishing assets and trademarks will transfer to Hachette Book Group.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2018 Highlights • Net sales increased 0.4% to $407.6 million; • Company comparable sales increased 1.8%; • E-Commerce sales penetration reached 27%; and • Loss per share (GAAP) of ($0.10); adjusted loss per share (non-GAAP) of ($0.05) compared to loss per share of ($0.05) in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 (see reconciliation below of loss per share to adjusted non-GAAP loss per share). Click Read More below for additional detail.