MAY BOOK SALES SHOW CONTINUED GROWTH.

New York, NY, July 20, 2010.  Book sales in May increased 9.8% when compared to May of 2009, according the Association of American Publishers.  Year-to-date growth for 2010 now stands at 11.6%.  Adult Hardcover continues to lead with a 43.2% increase, and 21.7% growth for the year.  University Press Hardcover also experienced excellent growth of 13.9% for May, and this segment is up 1% for 2010.  Higher Education publishing increased 6.3% and is up 21.4% for the year.  E-books continued to see very high growth numbers of 162.8% for the month and 207.4% year-to-date.  E-books now make up 8.5% of the book market compared to 2.9% at this time last year.  The religious segment grew 8.2% for the month, and is up 2.6% for the year.

Some segments did not fair so well.  Adult Paperback, Adult Mass Market, Children’s/YA, and Higher Education publishing all saw decreases for the month, and most are down for their year-to-date totals.