For the first time in 2023, ebook sales in the United States increased. The format had a 12.2% gain and generated $88.1 million. The digital audiobook format was up 14.1% for March, reaching $66.2 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 43.4%, coming in at $700 thousand.
Trade revenues were up 0.2% in March, reaching $710.9 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during March, in the Trade category, Hardback revenues were down 1.0%, coming in at $243.1 million; Paperbacks were up 0.3%, with $268.2 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 9.5% to $13.0 million; and Special Bindings were up 21.9%, with $18.9 million in revenue.
Year-to-date Trade revenues were up 1.1%, at $2.2 billion for the first three months. Hardback revenues were down 2.4%, coming in at $744.4 million; Paperbacks were up 3.0%, with $794.6 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 17.6% to $40.9 million; and Special Bindings were up 0.9%, with $51.6 million in revenue. Ebook revenues were up 3.3% compared to the first three months of 2023, generating $260.7 million. The Digital Audio format was up 18.4%, reaching $211.8 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 30.1%, coming in at $2.5 million.
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.
