Digital book sales in the United States was up 1.6% as compared to 2023 for a total of $1.0 billion. Digital audiobook sales was up 23.8%, coming in at $1.1 billion in revenue. Physical Audio was down 37.4% coming in at $8.7 million.
Year-To-Date Trade revenues were up 6.0%, at $9.5 billion on a year-to-date basis. Hardback revenues were up 6.8%, coming in at $3.5 billion; Paperbacks were up 3.0%, with $3.2 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 13.3% to $122.9 million; and Special Bindings were up 4.3%, with $231.7 million in revenue.
December Sales
Ebook revenues were down 11.8% for the month as compared to December 2023 for a total of $78.4 million. Digital Audio was up 12.0% for December, coming in at $92.9 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 57.9% coming in at $500 thousand.
In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of December, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 1.0%, coming in at $247.0 million; Paperbacks were down 11.0%, with $220.0 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 9.2% to $10.1 million; and Special Bindings were up 0.1%, with $19.1 million in revenue.
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.