Current Affairs

Association of American Publishers (AAP) Releases StatShot Report For First Quarter, 2026: Overall Industry Was Up 0.9%; Professional & Scholarly Publishing Up 5.7%

May 18, 2026

From the Association of American Publishers (AAP):

Today, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) released its StatShot report covering the first three months of 2026 reflecting reported revenue for Trade (Consumer Books), Education (combines PreK-12 Instructional Materials and Higher Education Course Materials), and Professional & Scholarly Publishing.

Total revenues across all categories for the first quarter of the year were up 0.9% as compared to the first three months of 2025, coming in at $2.9 billion.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues for First Quarter of 2026

Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 0.2% during the first three months of the year, coming in at $2.2 billion. Within the Trade category, books for adults decreased 0.5% to $1.5 billion compared to the first three months of 2025 while books for children and young adults increased 2.6% to $560.7 million.

In terms of physical paper format revenues during the first quarter, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 6.5%, coming in at $760 million; Paperbacks were up 4.2%, with $796.2 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 75.6% to $5.2 million; and Special Bindings were up 21.6%, with $57.4 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 5% as compared to the first three months of 2025, for a total of $261 million. Digital Audio was up 15.9% for the first three months, coming in at $302.3 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 11.4%, coming in at $1.3 million.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues by Month

January

Trade (Consumer Books) sales were down 4.5% in January, coming in at $754.8 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of January, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 11.3%, coming in at $263.1 million; Paperbacks were up 0.3%, with $272.3 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 68.5% to $3.6 million; and Special Bindings were down 3.4%, with $19.6 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were up 3.6% at $85.2 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were up 5.9% for January, coming in at $94.1 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were down 32.1%, coming in at $500 thousand.

February

Trade (Consumer Books) sales were up 5.9% in February, coming in at $758.9 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of February, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 5%, coming in at $256.1 million; Paperbacks were up 7%, with $254.6 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 85.3% to $900 thousand; and Special Bindings were up 18%, with $18.2 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 13.1% at $90.9 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were up 27.9% for February, coming in at $117.2 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were up 16.8%, coming in at $400 thousand.

March

Trade (Consumer Books) sales were down 0.4% in March, coming in at $722.4 million. In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of March, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 11.5%, coming in at $240.9 million; Paperbacks were up 5.7%, with $269.3 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 80.5% to $700 thousand; and Special Bindings were up 70.2%, with $19.6 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 5.9% at $82.8 million for the month, and revenues from the Digital Audio format were up 13.4% for March, coming in at $91 million in revenue. Physical Audio revenues were up 1.4%, coming in at $400 thousand.

Religious Presses Down 1.4% First Quarter of 2026

Religious press revenues were down 1.4% during the first three months of 2026, coming in at $219.6 million. Hardback revenues were down 4.3% to $130.2 million in revenue, Paperback revenues were up 1.3% to $42.4 million, eBook revenues were up 0.5% coming in at $13.3 million, and Digital Audio revenues were up 2% at $12.5 million.

Professional & Scholarly Publishing Up 5.7% for First Quarter of 2026

Professional & Scholarly Publishing, including business, medical, law, technical, scientific, and other books were up 5.7% during the first three months of the year, coming in at $104.1 million.

Education Materials (combines PreK-12 Instructional Materials and Higher Education Course Materials) Up 3.2% for First Quarter of 2026

During January 2026, revenues from Education Materials were $211.1 million, down 4.8% compared with January 2025. In February, Education Materials revenues were $185 million, up 13.9% from February 2025. For March, Education Materials revenues were $113.7 million, up 3.4% compared with March 2025. Year-to-date Education Materials revenues were $509.7 million, up 3.2% compared to the first three months of 2025.

AAP’s StatShot

AAP StatShot reports the monthly and yearly net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,416+ publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.

StatShot reports are designed to give ongoing revenue snapshots across publishing sectors 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 both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis within a given StatShot report.

Monthly and yearly StatShot reports may not align completely across reporting periods, because: a) The pool of StatShot participants may fluctuate from report to report; and b) Like any business, it is common accounting practice for publishing houses to update and restate their previously reported revenue data. If, for example, a business learns that its revenues were greater in a given year than its reports first indicated, it will restate the revenues in subsequent reports to AAP, permitting AAP in turn to report information that is more accurate than previously reported.