The below is from the AAP web site:
E-Books, Downloadable Audio Books Continue Growth
Based on AAP Publishers January 2011 Sales Report
March 17, 2011, New York, NY– E-books and downloadable audio books continue to grow in popularity according to the January 2011 sales report of the Association of American Publishers.
Figures for the first month of the new year show that E-book net sales increased by 115.8% vs January 2010 (from $32.4 Million to $69.9M). Sales of Downloadable Audio Books also rose by 8.8% vs the previous year ($6.0M to $6.5M). As AAP reported last month in its December 2010 monthly report and full 2010 analysis, E-book sales have increased annually and significantly in all nine years of tracking the category.
Among the other highlights of the January 2011 report:
Total books sales on all platforms, in all categories, hit $805.7 Million for January. This was a slight drop from January 2010’s $821.5M sales (-1.9%).
Adult Hardcover category fell from $55.4M to $49.1M (-11.3%), Adult Paperback dropped from $104.2M to $83.6 (-19.7%) and Adult Mass Market declined from $56.4M to $39.0 (-30.9%)
In the Children’s/Young Adult category, Hardcover sales were $31.2M in January 2011 vs $31.8M in January 2010 (-1.9%) while Paperbacks were $25.4M, down 17.7% from $30.9M in January 2010.
Physical Audio Books sales were $7.3M vs $7.9M the previous year (-6.7%).
Sales of Religious Books grew by 5.6%, from $49.8M to $52.6M.
Sales in the Higher Education category were $382.0M for January 2011, a slight drop (-1.4%) from $387.6M the previous year. K-12 sales hit $82.6M for the month vs $97.0M for the previous year (-14.9%).
In Professional and Scholarly Books, sales grew 1.3%, from $51.2M to $51.8M. Sales of University Press Hardcovers were $3.9M in January 2011 vs $4.5M the previous year (-14.0%) while University Press Paperbacks were $6.2M vs $6.7M (-7.8%).
All figures cited represent domestic net sales for U.S. book publishers.
About AAP
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. Its 300 members include most of the major commercial, education and professional publishers as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. They publish content on every platform for a global audience.
What do the numbers mean to me: a numbers girl who writes?
It means that all content providers - either the actual content providers or the means of distribution - need to focus more on the audience experience than on historical business models.
The world continues to change: my seven year old son declared no more movies today. He hates going to a movie theater and has lost interest in the movies once they come to him. If he wants to watch "video" he does it on a tv or computer (dvr or YouTube).
Book buyers are showing a move to digital from mass market paperback. Ease? Selection? Convenience?
My favorite? On Kindle I read the first chapters of the book before I commit to buying it.
As I write Captive's sequel I hope to stay present in the experience I'm creating. I've chosen to move the action to New York and Northern Africa. Can I educate while still telling a story.
And that story is key. Who wants to put down a novel in which you're fully engrossed?
Anyone who wants to provide insight into improving my readers' experience is welcome to do so. People are still reading. But with more choice they are demanding better content, access to the writer and a better and richer overall experience.
The picture? My backyard and where I thought about this post.
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