February 5, 2020
AAP NOVEMBER 2019 STATSHOT REPORT: INDUSTRY UP 0.9% YEAR-TO-DATE FOR 2019
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for November 2019 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 sales across all categories for January to November 2019 rose 0.9% as compared to the same period last year, reaching $13.5 billion.
For the month of November overall publisher revenue was down 23.9% as compared to November of 2018, coming in at $964.6 million. The decline in year-over-year revenue is attributable to unusually high revenue totals for the month of November 2018.
K-12 Instructional Materials
- The K-12 Instructional Materials category saw sustained growth year-to-date, coming in at $3.1 billion, a 24.7% increase as compared to the first 11 months of 2018.
Children and Young Adult
- The Children and Young Adult category was up 5.2% year-to-date as compared to the same period in 2018, coming in at $2.0 billion.
- In the Children’s and Young Adult category, paperback saw the most growth of any format, climbing 9.2% as compared to the same period last year, reaching $821 million.
- Hardback books in the category saw growth 1.7% compared to the first 11 months of 2018, reaching $819 million.
- Board Books climbed 1.0% as compared to the same period in 2018, coming in at $144 million.
Trade
- Revenues in the Trade category (consumer publications) decline 0.8% year-to-date coming in at $7.2 billion.
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.