HarperCollins has just announced their recent financial results that cover the period for April, May and June of 2020. Full year revenues were $88m down to $1.676bn from $1.754bn the previous year. The revenue declines were partially blamed on higher sales the previous year of titles by Rachel Hollis, Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines, and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. It was also due to many book stores being closed during COVID.
One of the bright spots for the quarter were ebook sales, which were up 26%. The big genre sales within the digital division were children’s and general fiction. Audiobook and ebook sales represented 29% of consumer revenues for the quarter, which are higher than average. In the past, digital normally accounted for 21% on a quarterly basis.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
