Total net book sales in September in the U.S. rose 2.4%, to $1.5 billion, compared to September 2023, representing sales of 1,278 publishers and distributed clients as reported to the Association of American Publishers. For January through September, net book sales rose 7%, to $10.8 billion.
Net trade sales slipped 0.9% in September. In trade formats, digital audio was again the biggest gainer, up 28.1%, while e-books rose 4% and hardcovers were up 3.2%. Other trade formats all had sales drops, including paperbacks, down 12.6%; special bindings, down 1%; mass market down 22.1%; and physical audio, down 51.1%. The strongest trade categories were adult e-books, up 6.2%; children's/YA hardcovers, up 4.9%; and adult hardcovers, up 3.4%. The other adult and children/YA categories had sales declines (see below).
Within adult trade, net sales of fiction rose 9% while nonfiction fell 7.7%. In children's/YA books, net sales of fiction fell 3.3% and nonfiction net sales fell 6.6%.
Sales by category for September 2024:
