US digital audiobooks continued to grow all year. In October 2024, the format increased by 18.7%, bringing in $86.5 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 54.2%, bringing in $800 thousand. Digital audiobook sales were up 26.1% yearly, reaching $883.4 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 36.2%, generating $7.4 million.
E-book sales in the United States had a rare down month in October. Revenues were down 2.5% to $83.9 million compared to October 2023. Year-to-date, e-book revenues were up 2.9% to $861.9 million compared to the first ten months of 2024.
This is the second time audiobook sales have surpassed e-book sales in two months. This is likely because the audio editions cost significantly more than the typical e-book. However, the report does not cover e-books or audiobooks downloaded as a subscription.
In terms of physical paper format revenues during October, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were up 8.8%, coming in at $487.9 million; Paperbacks were up 6.2%, with $321.4 million in revenue; Mass Market was up 11.7% to $10.1 million; and Special Bindings were up 1.5%, with $27.2 million in revenue.
Year-to-date hardback revenues were up 7.5%, coming in at $2.9 billion; Paperbacks were up 3.8%, with $2.7 billion in revenue; Mass Market was down 16.2% to $101.1 million; and Special Bindings were up 4.3%, with $187.4 million in revenue.
This data comes from the Association of American Publishers StatShot, which reports publishing houses’ monthly and yearly net revenue from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct-to-consumer, online retailers, and other channels. StatShot draws revenue data from approximately 1,280 publishers, although participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report.