Sales of religious books rose significantly in April, as overall book sales increased by 24.8% to $629.8 million and were up by 11.8% for the year, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

The month's sales for religious books rose 19.3% to $46.6 million, and sales were up by 1.3% for the year. Sales of religious books had its largest increase in more than a year in March. Other than a small increase in December, the religious books category had been on a steady decline since January 2009.

"The numbers we report to AAP from 15 of our publishers showed a 32% increase in April, so we were not surprised when the AAP numbers came in at 19.3%," Evangelical Christian Publishers Association President and CEO Mark Kuyper told Christian Retailing. "We were delighted to see a large increase by our publishers, particularly because it was driven by several publishers and reflected strong sales across the board rather than just strong sales from one or two titles."

Kuyper added that Christian publishers should be encouraged by the latest date, "particularly because it reflects a broad base of sales." "It is impossible to tell (the rest of 2010), but we are encouraged that sales were up for the first quarter and continue to be up year-to-date as well," he said.

The brightest spot in the AAP report was e-book sales, which continued to rise in April, with sales of $27.4 million for the month--reflecting an increase of 127.4% for April and 217.3% for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category was up by 49.2% in April with sales of $142.9 million, and year-to-date sales were up by 16.2%. Adult Paperback sales increased by 19.6% for the month--posting $128.2 million in sales--and were up by 19.4% for the year.

The Children's/Young Adult Hardcover category decreased by 11.2% for the month with sales of $40.5 million, and year-to-date sales were down by 30.2%. The Paperback category for the same age decreased 0.8% in April with sales totaling $39.9 million, and sales were down by 6.1% for the year.

Audiobook sales increased 18.6% in April--with sales totaling $11.7 million--and the category's year-to-date sales were up by 15.6%.

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