Andi Sporkin, AAP; March 28, 2012; Washington, DC — The US publishing industry saw dynamic net sales revenue growth in Adult, Children’s, Young Adult and Religious categories in January 2012 as compared to January 2011, according to the monthly industry snapshot report produced by the Association of American Publishers.

Publishers attributed the near-total across-the-board percentage increases in both print and digital formats to general economic improvement, particularly evident during the holiday season and for brick-and-mortar booksellers. This period also saw a number of successful new titles released by publishers for the adult and youth markets. Several also noted that the overall growth in revenue for print-format books in January 2012 was partly due to the returns from the Borders chain that had occurred last January.

These figures are part of a significant expansion of the AAP monthly new sales revenue report also launching this month. The report now has a name — AAP Monthly StatShot — and now includes a considerably larger base of participating publishers (from an average 75-90 in the past to 1149 this month) and additional categories including eBook data for Children/Young Adults and Hardcover, Paperback and eBook data for Religious Presses.

The full monthly report is provided free to AAP member organizations and can be purchased on a subscription basis for non-members. For subscription rates and purchasing forms, contact info@publishers.org

While the number of participants has grown, all past-year comparison data starting with January 2011 as noted below is being provided by all new and returning participants to keep comparisons equal. Among noteworthy results:

Total Trade net revenue grew by +27.1% vs January 2011. Growth was reflected across Adult, Children’s/Young Adult and Religious categories.

While Children’s/Young Adult physical format Hardcover and Paperback both saw strong double-digit growth (68.9% and 61.9% respectively), AAP’s first monthly data on Children’s/YA eBooks showed a massive +475.1% increase from 2011 to 2012. Some publishers have attributed this to the availability of more options for devices aimed at those demographics as well as a number of popular new releases.

Also, the January 2012 Monthly StatShot offers our first full breakout of print and digital formats for Religious Presses. The figures showed triple-digit growth for eBooks in this genre from 2011 to 2012, which some publishers have noted reflects that segment’s more recent transition into e-formats.

Highlights of the January 2012 Monthly StatShot follow:

Adult books

Hardcover: $69.8M in January 2012; $57.4M in January 2011; +21.6% increase
Trade Paperbacks: $105.1M in Jan 2012; $99.1M in Jan 2011; +6.1% increase
Mass Market Paperbacks: $30.4M in Jan 2012; $39.3M in Jan 2011; -22.5% decrease
eBooks: $99.5M in Jan 2012; $66.6M in Jan 2011; +49.4% increase
Downloaded Audiobooks $8.4M in Jan 2012; $6.5M in Jan 2011; +29.4% increase

Children’s/Young Adult

Hardcover: $57.4M in Jan 2012; $34.0M in Jan 2011; +68.9% increase
Paperbacks: $38.0M in Jan 2012; $23.5M in Jan 2011; +61.9% increase
eBooks: (new AAP category) $22.6M in Jan 2012; $3.9M in Jan 2011; +475.1% increase

Religious (new AAP categories)

Hardcover: $39.6M in Jan 2012; $38.4M in Jan 2011; +2.9% increase
Paperbacks: $5.3M in Jan 2012; $5.9M in Jan 2011; -10.3% decrease
eBooks: $6.7M in Jan 2012; $2.7M in Jan 2011; +150.7M increase

Total Trade

Total Overall: $503.5M in Jan 2012; $396.0M in Jan 2011; +27.1% increase
Total Adult Trade: $323.0M in Jan 2012; $277.4M in Jan 2011; +16.4% increase
Total Children/YA: $128.2M in Jan 2012; $71.0M in Jan 2011; +80.5% increase
Total Religious: $52.4M in Jan 2012; $47.7M in Jan 2011; +9.9%