Finance

With sales in the adult books and children’s/young adult categories falling 16.4% and 9.9%, respectively, total industry sales dropped 9.3% in October from a year ago for the 1,370 publishers that report results to AAP’s StatShot program.

A 19% increase in Scholastic's children's book publishing and distribution segment drove total sales up 12% in the second quarter, while operating income rose 20%.

Sales fell 3% at John Wiley in the second quarter ended October 31, largely due to a 14% revenue decline in its academic and publishing learning group. Trouble in the group prompted the company to lower its revenue forecast for fiscal 2023, though its earnings predictions remained intact.

Total publishing industry sales fell 4.5% through September compared to 2021, with trade sales down 3.3%, at the 1,368 publishers that report revenue to the AAP’s StatShot program. Lower hardcover sales and higher returns were the main drivers in pushing down trade sales.

In a report designed to measure the economic impact of NYC's various publishing segments, the first-of-its-kind study found that the number of book publishing jobs dipped 1.7% between 2010 and 2020, while bookselling jobs tumbled 37.1%. The average book publishing salary was $119,000, compared to a $39,000 wage for booksellers.

Book sales fell 9% in August compared to a year ago at the 1,367 publishers who report data to AAP’s StatShot program. All segments had declines in the month, with sales of adult books down 9.3% and sales of children’s/young adult books declining 10.9%.

Sales dropped 11% and profits plunged 54% in the quarter ended September 30 at HarperCollins. Much lower sales of print books through Amazon impacted the revenue decline, and higher costs across the board contributed to the profit drop.

Though its third-quarter results slowed compared to the first half of 2022, Simon & Schuster remains on track to have a record year, which CEO Jonathan Karp attributed to employees' ability to stay focused on books despite the company being for sale for more than two years.

Helped by the popularity of Colleen Hoover's 'Verity,' revenue at Hachette Book Group rose 4.7% in the third quarter over 2021—a gain that does not include results from Workman Publishing, which HBG bought last September.

Since the summer, many publishers have reported lower orders from Amazon compared to a year ago, and the release of the e-commerce giant’s third-quarter results gave no indication that things will markedly improve in the final period.