July 13, 2020
AAP MAY 2020 STATSHOT REPORT: PUBLISHING INDUSTRY DECLINES 12.1% FOR MONTH; 4.5% YEAR TO DATE
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for May 2020 reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (consumer publications), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses.
Total revenues across all categories for May 2020 were approximately $1.0 billion, a decline of 12.1% as compared to May 2019. Year-to-date sales were $4.3 billion, a decline of 4.5% as compared to the same period last year.
Trade (Consumer Book) Revenues:
Trade sales were down 7.9% year-over-year, coming in at $635.8 million. Year-to-date (Jan-May 2020) Trade sales were $2.8 billion, a decline of 1.5%, as compared to the same period in 2019.
Physical paper formats in the Trade (consumer publications) category saw declines during the month, with Hardback revenues coming in at $212.1 million, a decline of 18.5%; Paperback revenues were $201.1 million, a fall of 16.9%; and Mass Market was $22.6 million, down 0.6%. On a year-to-date basis, Hardback revenues were $967.9 million, down 6.7%; Paperbacks were $924.5 million, down 3.0%; and Mass Market was $83.9 million, a decline of 1.2% as compared to the first five months of 2019.
eBook and Downloaded Audio revenues were both bright spots in May, and on a year-to-date basis:
eBook revenues were up 39.2% for the month as compared to May 2019 for a total of $113.0 million. On a year-to-date basis, eBooks were up 7.3%, coming in at $435.4 million for the first five months of 2020.
Downloaded Audio revenues saw a 22.0% increase as compared to May of last year, reaching $54.2 million in revenue. On a year-to-date basis, Downloaded Audio was up 15.8% as compared to the first five months of 2019, with a total of $262.5 million for the year so far. The Downloaded Audio format has seen continuous growth every month since 2012. Notably, Downloaded Audio revenues in the Children’s and YA Books category saw a strong 69.4% year-over-year increase in May to $5.4 million, lifting the total year-to-date Downloaded Audio revenues in the category by 24.7% to $23.7 million.
Religious Presses
Religious press revenues were up 7.0% year-over-year in May, coming in at $58.5 million, but down 6.6% on a year-to-date basis, with revenues of $264.5 million for the first five months of the year.
Education:
Year-to-date revenues were down 9.9%, coming in at $1.5 billion. Revenues from Higher Education Course Materials were up 19.4% to $130.0 million for the month. On a year-to-date basis, Higher Education Course Materials revenues were up 8.9%, reaching $771.5 million.
PreK-12 Instructional Materials revenues were $221.7 million, a drop of 32.5% compared to May of last year, and year-to-date revenues in the category were $489.5 million, a decline of 30.7% as compared to the first five months of 2020.
Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, declined 3.7% for the month, generating $53.1 million in revenue. The category saw a decline of 3.5% year-to-date, with $194.3 million in revenue during the first five months.
University Presses declined 5.4% as compared to May of 2019, bringing in $3.1 million in revenue. On a year-to-date basis, University Presses declined 10.1%, bringing in $16.8 million for the first five months of 2020.
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AAP’s StatShot
Publisher net revenue, including sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, etc., is tracked monthly by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and includes revenue from about 1,360 publishers, with participation subject to change over time.
StatShot reports are designed to give an up-to-date snapshot of the publishing industry using the best data currently available. The reports reflect participants’ most recent reported revenue for current and previous periods, enabling readers to compare revenue on a year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.
It is not, however, possible to make apples-to-apples comparisons to StatShot reports issued in previous years because: a) The number of StatShot participants fluctuates over time, with the pool of participants growing or shrinking in each report and b) It is a common accounting practices for businesses, including publishers, to restate revenue numbers based on updated information. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports, providing information that is more up-to-date and accurate.