Both religious presses and the book industry as a whole improved in July 2015 compared July 2014, according to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot report. Religious presses posted 14.6 percent growth, while total sales increased by 2.8 percent. Religious presses and “all other” improved the most this month, though only one category—educational course materials—posted a decline relative to July 2014 (3.3 percent).

The growth marks a welcome change for the industry, in which overall year-to-date sales have lagged behind last year’s by 2 percent. Religious presses have done even worse, declining by 4.9 percent in year-to-date statistics.

Religious press growth for July 2015 can be attributed to strong hardback sales, which had a net positive change of 27.7 percent. E-books were the only underperforming category; sales declined 21.9 percent in July 2015 relative to July 2014.

The e-books category has fared poorly for most of 2015 and declined 8.6 percent in year-to-date sales. The only religious category to see positive year-to-date growth is paperback, which has a slim 0.9 percent increase over 2014 sales.

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