Religious presses saw sales slow in the first quarter of 2015 versus the same period in 2014, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Publishers’ book sales for the first quarter of the year (January–March) were down 6.6 percent for the year to date at $2.22 billion compared to $2.38 billion for the first quarter in 2014.

Sales from religious presses, took a 5.5 percent dip over the same period the year before, down to $124.4 million on the quarter versus $131.6 million in 2014. For the month of March, sales from religious publishers were down 12.9 percent.

Overall, Adult books grew 3.4 percent during the period, aided by a particularly strong March this year, which saw a 12 percent rise over March 2014, with paperbacks, physical audiobooks and downloaded audiobooks all seeing double-digit growth in the category during the quarter. Children & Young Adult books plunged 15.9 percent, from $382 million in Q1 2014 to $321.1 million during the same period this year.

The monthly statistics (#AAPStats) are tracked by the Association of American Publishers and include sales from more than 1,200 publishers.

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