In May, total net book sales rose 1.6%, to $1.05 billion, compared to May 2015, and represented sales of 1,210 publishers and distributed clients as reported to the Association of American Publishers. For the first five months of the year, total net book sales fell 3.3%, to $3.886 billion.
In May, adult hardcovers rose 15.9%, a major improvement for a category that is down 6.3% for the year to date. Mass market also saw a major jump--48.7%--in another category that is down 4.6% overall so far in 2016. E-book sales were off in all categories, with the eye-popping exception of university press e-books, whose sales were up 88.3%, although they amounted to just $1 million.
