Total net book sales in July in the U.S. rose 14%, to $1.032 billion, compared to July 2025, representing sales of 1,416 publishers and distributed clients as reported to the Association of American Publishers. For the first seven months of the year, net book sales rose 5.4%, to $6.673 billion.
In July, trade sales rose 16.4%, to $804.1 million. The biggest categories with sales jumps in July included physical audio, adult hardcovers and paperbacks; children's/YA hardcovers and paperbacks; and university press hardcovers, paperbacks, and e-books. Lagging categories were religious hardcovers, mass market, and e-books; adult and children's/YA e-books; and professional & scholarly books.
In July in trade, hardcover sales increased 18.5%, to $242.5 million, while paperback increased 25.2%, to $311.6 million. Together the two formats represented 68.9% of total trade revenue.
Sales by category for July 2026:
