April Book Sales: Good News For Ebooks, Bad News For Print

The numbers are out for April 2011: Print book sales took a dive while digital book sales continued their climb upward. Anyone else not surprised?

The American Association of Publishers (AAP) released the figures for all of their member publishing houses, which include Penguin, Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster and many more.

Publishers Weekly gives the rundown:

…sales of adult hardcover fell by 22.7% in April from the 19 companies that report to AAP, while trade paperback sales at 21 houses fell 25.4%. Sales of mass market paperback, for which Borders is an important outlet, plunged 41.6% for the 11 reporting houses. Sales in the children’s/YA segment rose 1.5% in April from 18 houses, but children’s/YA paperback sales declined 7.2%.

E-book sales had another strong month, with sales up 157.5%, to $72.8 million from 22 reporting companies. The increase, however, was not enough to offset declines in the print sector and as a result combined print and digital sales of trade books fell 10% at the reporting companies in the month.

The article does say that the Borders saga has made an impact on print sales. Since bankruptcy, publishers have been “selectively” shipping to Borders Stores on a cash basis only.

It’s noteworthy that the increase in ebook sales were not enough to offset the decline in print book sales. I’m guessing by the end of the year an equilibrium will be achieved. But only if publishers continue to improve and promote their digital offerings at fair prices.

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