Reflecting another full month when much of the country was under stay-at-home orders or business was otherwise limited because of the Covid-19 pandemic, total net book sales in November in the U.S. jumped 24.5%, to $1.194 billion, compared to November 2019, representing sales of 1,354 publishers and distributed clients as reported to the Association of American Publishers.
It was the fourth rise in sales during the pandemic months, following gains of 0.3% in August, 14.6% in September and 7.3% in October. For the year to date, total net book sales are up 0.8%, to $13.6 billion.
In November, trade book sales rose 34.5%, to $943.6 million, and were up 9.7%, to $7.8 billion, in the first 11 months of the year. In November, hardcover sales rose 58.3%, to $464.2 million; paperbacks rose 35.6%, to $257.2 million; while mass markets were off 23.2%, to $14.7 million. E-book sales rose 5.1%, to $87.9 million.
Some of the sales gains--especially in hardcover categories and trade in general--are likely attributable to holiday sales that took place earlier than usual in reaction to pandemic pressures.
In an unusual twist, sales of downloaded audio sales fell for the first month since 2012, with a decline of 1.6%, to $56 million. In a related unusual twist, physical audio sales, which have fallen steadily over the past few years, were up 30% in November, to $4.1 million.
Sales by category in November 2020 compared to November 2019:
