Seeing a decrease for the fifth month in a row, sales of religious books declined in October, as overall book sales decreased by 0.9% to $721 million, but were up by 3.4% for the year, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

The month's sales for religious books declined 4.1% to $57.5 million, with sales down 0.7% for the year. Sales of religious books had risen in May, April and March, but declined 8% in June, 11.9% in July, 0.4% in August and 2.5% in September. Previously, other than a small increase in December, the religious books category had been on a steady decline since January 2009.

The brightest spot in the AAP report was e-book sales, which continued to rise in October—reflecting an increase of 112.4% to $40.7 million for the month and 171.3% for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category decreased by 6.5% in October with sales of $242.9 million, and year-to-date sales were down by 7.7%. Adult Paperback sales decreased by 11.8% for the month—posting $115 million in sales—with no change for the year.

The Children's/Young Adult Hardcover category increased by 13.9% for the month with sales of $100 million, but year-to-date sales were down by 11.1%. The Paperback category for the same age decreased 3.3% in October with sales totaling $50.9 million, and sales were down by 6.5% for the year.

Physical audiobook sales decreased 20.5% in October—with sales totaling $14.7 million—and the category's year-to-date sales were down by 13.5%.

Click here for more information.

• Prev
• Next