AAP Reports Publisher Revenues up 5% in First 3 Quarters of 2014
A new report from the Association of American Publishers today reveals that publishers revenues were up slightly in the first 9 months of 2014.
Total trade revenues for the 1,209 publishers supplying data to the AAP were up 2.8% (to $5.02 billion from $4.88 billion). The adult segment dropped 3.3% (to $3.31 billion from $4.42 billion), while the religious presses segment grew by 2.1% (to $410 million from $393 million).
The children’s/YA segment continued its extreme fluctuation in sales for the third year in a row, with revenues up 22.4% (to $1.31 billion from $1.07 billion). This segment showed similar growth in 2012, and a similar decline in 2013. It’s more than likely that the fluctuation in all 3 years had the same cause: blockbuster movie adaptations of YA novels (or in the case of 2013, the lack of the same).
Coincidentally, the AAP also pointed out in their press release that YA ebooks revenues increased at a faster clip than the overall segment, with a 52.7% change in the first nine months.
In terms of formats, ebooks were up, hardbacks were down, and paperbacks were up. Total ebook revenues increased by 5.6% over 2013 (to $1.2 billion from $1.13 billion), while hardback sales dropped by just under a percent. Paperback sales saw similar healthy growth, increasing by 4.1% (to $1.51 billion from $1.45 billion).
The AAP also shared the tidbit that downloaded audiobook revenues continue to outpace the market, growing by 27.0% growth over the same period in 2013.
And in terms of the overall revenues reported by the 1,209 publishers, the AAP said that publishing is healthy thus far in 2014. Revenues were up 4.9% in all categories (Trade, K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, University Presses, etc.)
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