New York, NY - Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of April decreased by 3.5 percent to $473 million, and remained flat for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category was down by 4.6 percent in April with sales of $110.0 million; year-to-date sales were decreased by 14.5 percent. Adult Paperback sales rose 4.5 percent for the month ($118.3 million); sales were up by 18.2 percent for the year. The Adult Mass Market category increased by 4.7 percent for April with sales totaling $53.2 million; sales increased by 1.7 percent year-to-date. The Children’s/YA Hardcover category saw a decrease of 19.9 percent for the month with sales of $39.0 million; additionally, sales for year-to-date dropped by 12.0 percent. The Children’s/YA Paperback category was down by 3.1 percent in March with sales totaling $39.3 million; however, sales were up by 4.8 percent for the year.

Audio Book sales posted an increase of 1.7 percent in April, with sales totaling $12.6 million; though sales for the whole year were down by 13.0 percent. E-books sales rose by 19.9 percent for the month ($3.4 million); the category also posted an increase of 36.1 percent for the year. Religious Books saw a decrease of 21.5 percent for the month with sales of $34.2 million; sales were down by 14.1 percent for the year.

Sales of University Press Hardcover books rose 12.1 percent in April with sales of $5.6 million; sales were up by 0.3 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales posted a decrease of 2.0 percent for the month with sales totaling $2.7 million; sales were down 4.7 percent for the year. Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category rose 3.6 percent in March ($44.2 million); and, sales were up by 5.0 percent for the year.

Higher Education publishing sales decreased by 30.5 percent for the month ($8.0 million), reflecting a 8.5 percent increase for the year. Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted an increase of 4.6 percent in April with sales of $196.5 million; this category was also up by 3.7 percent for the year.

Courtesy: American Association of Publishers, USA

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Posted by Jigar Gondalia on 24 June, 2008 10:58:57 AM IST #