From Publisher Weekly:
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...fell-12-1.html
Bad news first.
Quote:
Net sales fell 12.1% in May, compared to May 2019, for the 1,360 publishers who report to AAP’s monthly StatShot program. Similar to the April report, the net sales figure was heavily influenced by a steep drop in returns, which offset a decline in gross sales in the month. (AAP calculates net sales by deducting returns from gross sales.)
Total gross sales fell 17.4% in May, but returns dropped 45.2%, leading to the 12.1% decline in net sales. Religion was the only category to have an increase in gross sales in the month, of 0.2%, and combined with a 38.9% drop in returns, the category had a 7% increase in net sales.
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Note that with so many bookstores still closed in May, there's a lot of books out there, boxed and waiting to be returned.
Also it says a lot that the only category with a boost in sales was religion.
Sign of the times.
(There's also a much bigger sign in the form of historical sales of another, non medical, product.)
Buried lede:
Quote:
The May report did show the first big jump in e-book sales since the pandemic struck, with sales up 30.6% over May 2019, an increase that helped to offset print declines. The gain lifted sales of e-books up by 4.3% for the first five months of 2020.
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Now imagine what the numbers must look like without the ebook boost.
More at the source.