2009 Book Sales

Crain’s New York Business had some good news about book sales in 2009. So let’s start 2010 off on a positive note.

… some observers are thinking that pessimism over the future of books may be overdone.

Of course, not every genre ended up in sales:

The biggest decline by category was in adult non-fiction, with sales of 272 million units, down 7% from the prior year.

But some were up:

Sales of adult fiction hardcover books rose 3% to 36 million units. Trade paperbacks in the category also grew their sales, to 79 million, an increase of 2% over the prior year.

Why were sales up? Here’s Crain’s possible reasons:

There are several theories for the increase in sales of hardcover fiction, starting with the publication of Dan Brown's blockbuster thriller The Lost Symbol in September. Ms. Shanley also believes credit should go to the price wars that broke out in October between Amazon.com and big box retailers, most notably Wal-Mart, over new titles like Stephen King's Under the Dome and Dean Koontz's Breathless.

Another theory holds that consumers in a recession were looking for entertainment.

Good news to start the new decade. Yay! Feel free to share any good book news you have.