UPDATE. Books sales up slightly in 2017; downloadable audio soars, 3rd year of ebook declines

Book Publisher Revenue Up For Adult Books, University Presses in 2017.  (Business Wire, 5/9/2018)


2/8/2018 update, "Still small in overall sales, audio books continue their double-digit growth", starts here.

Audiobook Sales Increased 26.2% First Three Quarters of 2017.  (Good e-Reader, 2/7/2018)

Yikes!  As if the activity of reading a book has never been a deeply immersive experience.  One of the big reasons why ebooks saw a decline in the first nine months of 2017 was due to no new technologies driving growth. In the past e-readers, tablets and apps fueled the explosion in digital reading, but in the past few years nothing new has come along. The industry is hoping that AR and VR will be the next frontier that will drive a more immersive experience.

10/27/2017 update, "Print shares appropriate Mark Twain quote:  "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated", starts here.

E-books Declined 4.6% and Audio Grew 32.0% in 2017.  (Good e-Reader, 10/26/2017)

Although e-book sales are no longer declining in double digit figures for the past year, print sales continue to soar. This has been a boon for bookstores all over the United States, especially indie shops. According to the American Booksellers Association, independent bookstores are thriving — with a 25% increase in ABA membership since 2009. Bookstore sales are up 6.1% since January 2016, the U.S. Census Bureau reports.

9/13/2017 update, " January-April 2016-2017 book sales comparison:  revenues and percentage change", starts here.

Downloaded Audio Up 34.4% in April 2017.  (AAP, 9/11/2017)


8/2/2017 update, "2016-2017 1st quarter book sales comparison:  revenues and percentage change", starts here.

AAP reports book sales revenue up 4.9% in Q1, while eBook sales revenue falls 5.3%.  (Talking New Media, 8/1/2017)


2/24/2017 update starts here.

AAP: Print and audiobook sales revenue increase through first 3 quarters of 2016, but eBook sales by member publishers falls 18.7%.  (Talking New Media, 2/24/2017)


2/16/2017 update starts here.

eBooks sales were down 18.9% from January to August 2016.  (Good Ereader, 1/25/2017)
Audiobook Sales Increased 26.2% First Three Quarters of 2017

12/20/2016 update starts here.

E-Book sales were down 19.2% and Audio up by 31.1% in July 2016.  (Good Ereader, 12/20/2016)

11/16/2016 update starts here.

AAP: US book sales down 3.4% in first half of 2016; eBook sales down 20% through June.  (Talking New Media, 11/15/2016)


10/20/2016 update, "Snapshot of May 2015/2016 book sales", starts here.

Source:  Talking New Media

10/5/2016 update, "Snapshot of April 2015/2016 book sales", starts here.

Or 'statshot', if you will.

Book Sales Down 7% in April: AAP StatShot.  (GalleyCat, 10/4/2016)


Original 9/23/2016 post, "Digital audiobooks are kicking butt", starts here.

And so is Carl Hiaasen.

Audiobooks Turn More Readers Into Listeners as E-Books Slip.  (The New York Times, 9/23/2016)

Possible contributing factors to overall 2.7% decline in revenue.

• No 'monster' bestseller, a la "The Girl on a Train", which sold 2,000,000 copies in the first 4 months of 2015.
• Adult coloring book fad fadeout.  Sales increased to 12,000,000 in 2015, uip from 1,000,000 in 2014.
• Increase in downloadable audiobook sales.  (Since my wife started to ride the bus to work, she has abandoned ebooks for audiobooks.)

As for me, I still check out audiobooks at the public library.

Whenever  I read Hiaasen in print, my wife will ask me the following question over and over again:  "What's so funny?"

Related posts:
Pew Research: Print books remain the preferred format for reading.  (9/5/2016)
Year-to-date book sales comparison.  (7/29/2016)
Snapshot of 2014/2015 comparable book sales by general format.  (4/28/2016)
Overall, sales of print books are up for 2nd year in a row.  (2/22/2016)
The fact of the matter is that net sales of hardback and paperback books have held relatively steady for the past 5 years.  (1/28/2016)
Print continues to hold its own.  (1/21/2015)
Is this the future of e-books?  (8/27/2014)
Who's reading ebooks (by household income). (7/20/2014)
Ebook digital subscription services: Is it a bjargain? (7/20/2014)
Which is what you would have predicted after reading "In So Many Words" in March 1997.  (5/28/2014)
Amazon delivers the "Lesley Gore" ultimatum.  (4/25/2014)
The boom is over for ebooks.  (4/2/2014)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology: Have we finally reached the slope of enlightenment?  (3/11/2014) 
Pew Research report on e-reading.  (1/16/2014)
Book sales update as of October 2013.  (1/10/2014)
The 24-hour news recycle: Mein Kampf edition.  (1/7/2014)