Digital book revenue in the United States slightly fell 0.9% for May 2023. The format generated $81.1 million, while digital audiobook sales increased by 15.3% for May, coming in at $68.9 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 8.5%, coming in at $1.1 million. Year-to-date, ebook revenues were down 3.1% at $24.0 million, and Digital Audiobooks revenue was up 10.2% at $19.3 million.
In terms of physical paper format revenues during May, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 0.3%, coming in at $233.5 million; Paperbacks were down 3.6%, with $239.5 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 41.2% to $6.1 million; and Special Bindings were down 21.5%, with $10.2 million in revenue.
Year-to-date Trade hardback revenues were down 3.5%, coming in at $1.2 billion; Paperbacks were down 2.2%, with $1.2 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 19.5% to $59.8 million; and Special Bindings were down 1.7%, with $69.6 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.