Sales of adult books fell 10.3% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first period of 2015, and sales of children/young adults' dipped 2.1%, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers' StatShot program.
Sales of e-books dropped 19% in the adult category in the quarter and declined 40.5% in the children/young adults' segment, Publishers Weekly website reported.
E-books accounted for 27.1% of adult book sales in the 2016 quarter, down from 29.9% in the same period in 2015. E-books’ share of children/young adults' sales fell from 12.5% in the 2015 first quarter to 7.5%.
In the adult category, sales fell in all but two formats: sales of downloadable audio rose 36.4% in the quarter, and trade paperback sales increased 1.5%.
In the children/young adults' category, paperback sales were up 19.7% in the quarter but fell for board books (26%) and hardcover (2.7%).
The StatShot figures are based on sales from 1,219 publishers from across the industry.
