Total net book sales in April in the U.S. rose 18.3%, to $947.5 million, compared to April 2023, representing sales of 1,277 publishers and distributed clients as reported to the Association of American Publishers. For the year to date, net book sales rose 4.2%, to $4.056 billion.
In April, trade revenues rose 20.6%, to $725.1 million, with adult mass market accounting for the only sales drop. The other three adult categories--paperbacks, e-books, and hardcovers--had impressive gains of 29.2%, 19.8%, and 17.6%, respectively. Children's/YA paperbacks, hardcover, and e-books had more modest gains of 4.3%, 3.1%, and 3%, respectively.
In trade categories, hardcover sales rose 16.6%, to $252.6 million; paperbacks rose 20%, to $249.9 million; mass market plummeted 34.5%, to $8.2 million; and special bindings were up 13.7% to $14.4 million. E-book sales rose 16.8%, to $83.1 million; digital audio sales were up 54.6%, at $100 million; and physical audio sales dropped 15%, to $800,000.
Sales by category in April 2024 compared to April 2023:
