New Publishing Industry Survey Details Strong Three-Year Growth in Net Revenue, Units

News provided by

Association of American Publishers

Aug 09, 2011, 09:40 ET

"BookStats" Also Examines Trends in Print and Digital Formats, Sales Distribution Channels

NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BookStats, the deepest, most comprehensive statistical survey ever conducted of the modern U.S. publishing industry – capturing its size, scope, revenue and rapid strategic expansion across multiplatform content and sales distribution channels – is being released today.

Spanning 2008-2010, BookStats offers data and analysis of the total industry and individual Trade, K-12 School, Higher Education, Professional and Scholarly markets.  Produced jointly by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group, its highlights include:

Overall U.S. publishing revenues are growing

Publishers' net sales revenue has grown annually; 2010's $27.94 Billion is a 5.6% increase over 2008.

Overall U.S. publishing unit sales are up as well

Publishers' 2.57 Billion net units sold in 2010 represent a 4.1% increase since 2008.

Americans, young and old, are reading actively in all print and digital formats

2010 total net revenue in the consumer-focused Trade market is $13.94 Billion, increasing 5.8% since 2008 (excluding 2011's e-book sales surge).  Adult Fiction and Juvenile (non-fiction and fiction) have seen consistent annual gains.

Education publishing holds steady and, in some segments, shows solid growth

Higher Education's $4.5 Billion net revenue for 2010 represents a significant 23.1% increase over 2008.  K-12 School, publishing's second largest category by net sales dollar volume, reached $5.5 Billion revenue in 2010.

Professional and Scholarly publishing shows gains

The Professional market's $3.7 Billion net revenue was +6.3% over 2008.  Scholarly publishing experienced 4.7% growth since 2008, with $191 Million net revenue for 2010.

"The BookStats study indicates that the publishing industry is healthy and growing during a time of unprecedented change," said Dominique Raccah, Founder and CEO, Sourcebooks and Chair of the BookStats Committee.  "Publishers in every sector of our business have made significant investments in content and technology to better serve their audiences' needs and those efforts seem to correlate with the results we're seeing."

BookStats examines the industry from three distinct angles:  by publishing categories, publishing formats and sales distribution channels.


BookStats' methodology includes source data from nearly 2000 publishers, additional databases and resources.  How BookStats was built

The complete survey is available for purchase along with a supplemental online dashboard enabling data customization. How to purchase BookStats

AAP is the national trade association representing 300 premier U.S. publishers of high-quality entertainment, education, professional and scholarly content, produced using the most current technology, reaching the world.  www.publishers.org  BISG is the leading U.S. book trade association for standardized best practices, research and education about publishing; its membership includes publishers, retailers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and librarians.  www.bisg.org

Media contact:
Andi Sporkin, AAP – [email protected] and 202-220-4554

SOURCE Association of American Publishers