Final publishing industry sales estimates for 2024 from the Association of American Publishers showed improvement in both dollar sales and unit sales for the year. Total sales rose 4.1%, to $32.5 billion, while unit sales increased 3.4%, to 3.1 billion. In 2023, unit sales fell 0.8%, but sales rose 2.8% as price increases offset the drop in unit sales. (Based on additional information and new modeling techniques, the AAP’s statistical partner, Industry Insights, has revised industry sales upward for 2020-2023).

The final 2024 numbers combine the $14.2 billion reported to the AAP by the 1,281 publishers who take part in the association’s monthly StatShot program as well $18.3 billion in estimated sales. The new figures show slightly slower growth than those released earlier this year, which only included reported revenue that showed a 6.5% sales increase. Those figures did not include sales in the PreK-12 instructional materials category due to lack of data. The final estimates found sales in that segment rose 5.1% over 2023, to $5.3 billion.

Because the AAP includes religious books in the trade segment, total trade sales increased 4.4% in the year, to $21.1 billion. Unit sales rose at a slower rate—2.6% over 2023—and once again reflect the importance of higher prices in boosting sales. The largest discrepancy between dollar and unit growth came in the adult fiction and religion segments, likely reflecting the increase in sales of higher-priced deluxe editions in adult fiction and higher sales of Bibles, which tend to have higher prices than trade titles.

The new report confirms that the religious presses segment had the largest increase in the year, with sales up 22.8%, to $2.01 billion. Adult fiction also did well with sales up 10.4%, to $6.84 billion, but nonfiction fell 4%, to $5.93 billion. The results were similar in the children’s/YA category where fiction sales increased 3.1%, to $5.33 billion, but nonfiction sales dropped, falling 2.9%, to $1.03 billion.

In the other major categories, sales of higher education course materials increased 1.8%, to $4.35 billion, sales of professional books increased 2.5%, to $1.35 billion, and university press sales rose 3.1%, to $350 million.

Sales by Format, Channel

One of the most valuable aspects of the AAP’s full report is a breakdown of sales by format and channel. In the trade segment, sales of digital audiobooks posted its largest sales increase ever, with sales jumping 22.5%, to $2.36 billion. E-book sales had much slower growth with sales up 1.8%, to $2.11 billion. The combination of digital audiobooks and e-books accounted for 21.1% of trade sales last year compared to 19.7% in 2023.

The two major print formats, hardcover and trade paperback, turned in comparable performances with hardcover sales up 3.6%, to $7.74 billion, while trade paperback sales increased 3%, to $7.68 billion. The AAP report also showed the shrinking interest in mass market paperbacks with sales down 14.1%, to $217 million, about 1% of all trade sales. The format will certainly have more declines this year, and even more in 2026 when Readerlink ends its distribution of the format to mass merchandisers, which account for as much as 70% of mass market paperback sales.

In terms of channel performance in the trade segment, sales posted the largest gain in the online channel in 2024 with sales up 11% to nearly $11 billion. E-tailers, led by Amazon, accounted for 52% of trade sales, up from 49% in 2023. Sales through physical retailers also grew in 2024, but not at the same pace as their online competitors. Sales rose 4.3%, to $4.71 billion and represented 22% of trade revenue. Sales through intermediaries (largely comprising wholesalers) fell 11.3%, to $3.73 billion—the second consecutive year of double-digit declines which could reflect softer sales to libraries as well as more direct buying by retailers. Export sales bounced back after a down 2023, increasing 5.3%, to $957 million. How export sales will fare in 2025 in a year buffeted by trade wars is unclear.

Between 2020 and 2024, the AAP reported that total industry sales increased 22.1%. Adult trade sales rose 51%, while nonfiction fell about 3%. The dramatic change in sales between the two categories resulted in adult fiction sales growing ahead of nonfiction for the first time in at least five years. Children’s/YA fiction had a solid five years, with sales up 20% in the period, while nonfiction inched up just 1%. Sales of religious books increased 52% in the five-year span.

“This year’s report shows encouraging levels of year-over-year growth across multiple categories during 2024” said Syreeta Swann, Chief Operating Officer of AAP in a statement. “In reference to the five-year period covered by StatShot Annual, we saw the continuation of some long-term trends, including the dominance of print formats, which accounted for more than half of the overall market for each of the five years, and sustained growth for the digital audio format, which has seen a revenue increase of nearly 80 percent since 2020.”