Finance

Led by the education segments, sales rose 23.1% in October over October 2020 at the 1,368 publishers that report results to AAP's StatShot program.

Textbook sales were flat in the quarter ended October 30, 2021 compared to a year ago at Barnes & Noble Education and overall revenue at the company rose 5.3% over a soft back-to-school period last year.

Sales of K-12 materials rose 35.2% in September and were up 32.7% for the first nine months of the year, offsetting declines in several other publishing areas, including adult trade. The K-12 segment was the big driver for industry sales through the first nine months of 2021, rising 32.7%. Through the January-September period, industry sales…

Regnery Publishing had a small sales increase in the third quarter, while Salem Author Services had a 27% jump in self-publishing fees, leading to a 5.6% increase in revenue, to $5.7 million, at Salem Media's publishing group.

Indigo Books & Music reported revenue of C$238.8 million in the period ended October 2, 2021, a 16% hike over the same period in 2020. With the increase in revenue, Indigo reported net earnings in the period of C$3.5 million, compared with a net loss of C$17.5 million a year ago.

The trade publishing segment continues to perform well in 2021, with August sales up 15.1% in the adult category and ahead 21.8% in the children’s/young adult segment at publishers that report results to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program.

A $50 million contribution from its purchase of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade division and higher backlist sales were two of the key drivers in increasing sales at HarperCollins by 19%, and profits by 20%, in the quarter ended August 31.

Despite working in something of a state of limbo caused by its pending purchase by Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster had a solid first half of 2021, and the good results carried into the third quarter, with sales rising 15% and profits jumping 66%.

With most categories posting increases, sales at the 1,158 publishers that report results to the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program rose 6.9% in July over July 2020.

Amazon has seen huge gains in sales and profits since the pandemic began, but growth in the third quarter was a modest 15%. The company is spending billions to cope with supply chain issues and labor shortages.