AAP September 2020 StatShot Report: Publishing Industry Up 14.6% for Month; Down 1.8% Year-to-Date

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for September 2020 reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (Consumer Books), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses.

Total revenues across all categories for September 2020 were up 14.6% as compared to September 2019, coming in at $1.8 billion. Year-to-date sales were down 1.8% as compared to the first nine months of 2019, with a total of $11.2 billion.

Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 20.9% year-over-year, coming in at $939.9 million. Year-to-date (January-September 2020) Trade sales were up 7.8% as compared to the same period last year, coming in at $5.9 billion.

In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of September, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 24.8%, coming in at $419.8 million; Paperbacks were up 21.6%, with $272.4 million in revenue; Mass Market was up 88.1% to $20.8 million; and Board Books were up 35.2%, with $23.5 million in revenue.

On a year-to-date basis, Hardback revenues were $2.1 billion, up 9.3%; Paperbacks were $1.9 billion, up 3.9%; Mass Market was $167.9 million, a decline of 0.6%; and Board Books were $127.9 million, up 18.2% as compared to the first nine months of 2019.

eBook and Downloaded Audio revenues continued to grow in September, as well as on a year-to-date basis:

eBook revenues were up 22.1% for the month as compared to September of 2019 for a total of $101.5 million. On a year-to-date basis, eBooks were up 15.8%, coming in at $855.8 million for the first nine months of 2020. Notably, eBook revenues in the Children’s and YA category saw a 110.8% jump during the month, coming in at $15.9 million. On a year-to-date basis, eBook revenues in the Children’s and YA category were up 69.7% for the first nine months of the year, coming in at $96.8 million.

The Downloaded Audio format continues the long-standing trend of seeing continuous growth every month since 2012. Downloaded Audio revenues saw a 15.0% increase as compared to September of last year, reaching nearly $60 million in revenue. On a year-to-date basis, Downloaded Audio was up 17.6% as compared to the same period in 2019, with a total of $496.7 million for the year so far.

Religious press revenues were up 5.1% in September, coming in at $62.5 million. The category was basically flat on a year-to-date basis with an increase of 0.5%, and revenues of $477.5 million for the first nine months of the year.

During September 2020 Education revenues were $827.2 million, up 8.5% compared with September of 2019. Year-to-date Education revenues were down 10.6% as compared to the first nine months of 2019, coming in at $5.3 billion.

Revenues from Higher Education Course Materials were up 3.1% for the month, as compared to September of 2019, coming in at $460.6 million. On a year-to-date basis, Higher Education revenues were down 0.5% to $2.5 billion.

PreK-12 Instructional Materials revenues were up 14.9% for September 2020, at $307.0 million. PreK-12 Instructional Materials revenues were down 21.4% at $2.3 billion on a year-to-date basis.

Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, increased 23.2% during the month, coming in at $54.1 million. The category was up 1.4% for the first nine months of the year, with $457.9 million in revenue.

University Presses were up 20.4% as compared to September of 2019, bringing in $5.4 million in revenue. On a year-to-date basis, University Presses rose 1.7%, bringing in $37.2 million for the first nine months of 2020.
more at: https://publishers.org/news/aap-september-2020-statshot-report-publishing-industry-up-14-6-for-month-down-1-8-year-to-date/

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