Digital book revenues were down for the 4th month in a row in the United States, as they fell 12.3% in August and the format generated $88.3. For the first 8 months of 2021 revenues were down 4.0% as compared to the first eight months of 2020 for a total of $718.0 million. Digital audiobooks was up 9.6% for August, coming in at $64.3 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 31.8% coming in at $1.5 million. The first 8 months of the year audiobook sales were up 15.5%, coming in at $504.8 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 2.0% coming in at $14.0 million.
In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of August, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 14.3%, coming in at $297.8 million; Paperbacks were up 36.1%, with $295.1 million in revenue; Mass Market was up 21.5% to $17.7 million; and Board Books were up 41.0%, with $21.1 million in revenue.
Year to date, Hardback revenues were up 20.1%, coming in at $2.05 billion; Paperbacks were up 20.9%, with $1.9 billion in revenue; Mass Market was up 9.6% to $160.9 million; and Board Books were up 13.6%, with $119.1 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.
