5% uplift for US publisher revenues

US publishers have reported a sales revenues rise of nearly 5% across 2014, mainly fuelled by the success of children's and young adult.

Figures released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), covering the first nine months of the year, show that across publishing as a whole, including academic, sales are up 4.9%, compared to last year. The greatest percentage growth of sales between January and September 2014 was in children's and young adult, which saw a 22.4% increase from the same period in 2013.

The trade publishing business as a whole saw a sales growth of 2.8%, with the success of the children's sector offsetting the decline in adult fiction and non-fiction sales of 3.3%. Religion presses saw a boost of 2.1%.

E-books have continued to rise, with sales up by 5.6% compared to 2013. Children's e-book sales in particular have boomed, up 52.7%. Despite this growth, paperback sales across all categories have also risen, up 4.1%. The only format to see a fall is hardbacks, which have dipped slightly, by 0.9%.

Audiobooks have also risen over the period, with a 27% growth in the adult fiction and non-fiction category.

The figures are compiled from data submitted by 1,209 US publishers. They are based on publishers' net revenue from all distribution channels, rather than sales through retailers.