Helped by an especially strong June, in which total sales were up 11% over a year ago, revenue for the 1,416 publishers that report results to AAP’s StatShot program increased 3.9% for the first half of 2026.
Adult fiction sales were up 8.2% for the six-month period, driven by a 19.3% jump in June thanks in large part to strong sales of Theo of Golden, released in October 2025, which sold more than 55,000 copies Children’s/YA fiction sales rose 1.7% in June and 2.6% for the first half of the year
Adult nonfiction sales also rallied in June, up 7.1%, but sales were still down 3.5% for the year-to-date. The much smaller children’s/YA nonfiction category had a 38.3% increase in June sales, and a 24.3% gain for the first six months of the year.
Adult trade book sales in the period were driven by a huge increase in digital audio, where sales jumped 14.7% over a year ago. E-books did not fare as well, with six-month sales down 2.5%. Total digital audio sales from reporting publishers totaled $530.9 million, compared to $444.2 million for e-books. On the print side, hardcover sales fell 2.6%, but trade paperback sales rose 8.4%.
Sales of digital products remained soft in the children’s/YA segment for the first half of the year, with audio down 3.4% and e-book sales falling 9.1%. Paperback was the format of choice in the year to date, with sales up 8.5% while hardcover sales increased 4.3%.
Sales at religious presses rose 4.8% in June and 1.6% for the first half of the year. For the remaining segments, education sales increased 4.4% in June and 3.4% for the first half of the year. Sales in the professional/scholarly category fell 3.4% in June but inched up 1.7% in the first half of the year. And university press sales shot up 22.8% in June and 9.6% for the first half of 2026.
