Publishing is benefiting from sales of Trump books even as Trump policies are beginning to settle in. Paper costs are on the rise, in part because of tariffs on Canadian trade
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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This week, the Association of American Publishers released sales figures for the first four months of 2018. Year to date, 2018 book publishing revenue rose 5.5% over the same period in 2017. In the trade segment, sales of adult fiction and nonfiction rose 7.3% in the four-month period and sales in the children’s/young adult category rose 6.6%. The strongest performing trade format was downloadable audio, where sales jumped 36.1%, notes Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.
“Audio continues to grow, which is great news for publishers who see the format as a revenue stream that doesn’t compete with their main revenue driver—print books,” he reports.
Looking at the big books of 2018 so far, PW pointed out a fairly obvious “Trump Bump” with books from James Comey and Michael Wolff leading the list.
“The industry is benefiting from sales of Trump related books, but at the same time, Trump policies are beginning to settle in. PW reports this week that paper costs are on the rise, partly because of tariffs on Canadian trade,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
