Digital book sales fell 7.3% in August 2019, this is the first time the format declined in the past two months. This is likely because not many new bestseller titles have been released and we should see the format pickup again in November and December.
Ebooks were not the only thing that declined in August, but book sales across the board. Publisher net revenue for Trade, including sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, etc., was down 3.6% as compared to the same period last year, coming in at $661.2 million. Children’s/YA Books, however, were up by 7.9%, reaching $197.1 million to represent 29.8% of all reported Trade revenue.
Paper formats represented 79.9% of reported trade revenue for the month, accounting for $528.6. Within paper formats Board Books grew, accounting for $17.5 million, an increase of 19.4% over August 2018. Digital audiobooks were also up, reaching $43.9 million, an increase of 5.7% over August 2018.
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.
