Projections estimate 2011 revenues over $41.84 billion

New York, NY (June 1, 2007) -- The Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) today released the 2007 edition of Book Industry TRENDS, the comprehensive view of U.S. book publishing dollar and unit sales that uniquely covers publishers with under $50 million in annual revenue as well as the larger publishing companies.

Book Industry TRENDS 2007 estimates that total publishers' net revenues in 2006 reached $35.69 billion, up 3.2 percent over 2005's total, and that unit sales in 2006 exceeded 3.1 billion.

Book Industry TRENDS projections show revenues reaching nearly $42 billion and units at 3.24 billion by the end of 2011.

Sales of religious books continued to grow strongly in 2006. With an increase of 5.6 percent in net revenue, this segment showed the highest growth in dollar sales. Adult trade came second, with revenue growth of 3.9 percent, followed by professional at 3.2 and college at 3.1. The juvenile category failed to repeat the impressive growth of previous years and recorded an increase of only 1.9 percent.

Presenting a familiar pattern, growth in unit sales lagged behind growth in dollars. Religious books led here too, with a rise of 3.1 percent, followed by adult trade (up 1.7 percent), professional (up .7 percent) and college (up .6 percent).

Providing estimates for 2005 and 2006 and projections for 2007 through 2011, Book Industry TRENDS 2007 covers the entire U.S. book publishing industry. With the exception of a short section consisting of Traditional Summary Data tables, all figures in the latest edition of Book Industry TRENDS are based on data about the full range of small and mid-size publishers coupled with data about the more visible large houses.

Reports on interviews with more than 30 industry insiders, which are also included in Book Industry TRENDS 2007, reveal that executives in many segments of the industry are now intent on a more direct relationship with the ultimate customer.

Tracking Trends for 30 years

With the publication of Book Industry TRENDS 2007, BISG marks its 30th anniversary of tracking publishers' dollar and unit sales. Throughout three decades, Book Industry TRENDS has provided invaluable data on the U.S. book business. Book Industry TRENDS numbers are widely quoted in prestigious publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Business Week, Publishers Weekly, Subtext and many other periodicals that serve book industry professionals, who rely on Book Industry TRENDS as they plan for the future.

As part of the continuing process of improving Book Industry TRENDS, BISG expanded its data sources in 2006 to cover the significant and growing segment of the U.S. book publishing market composed of companies with annual revenues of up to $50 million as well as the segment comprising larger companies that Book Industry TRENDS has tracked since it was first published. In 2006 BISG again conducted a substantial survey of small and mid-size publishers and incorporated the findings.

Robert M. Wharton and Albert N. Greco, senior researchers at The Institute for Publishing Research, provided the analysis of data in this volume. Robert Wharton is also a professor and chair of the Department of Management Sciences at Fordham University's Graduate School of Business Administration. Albert Greco is the author of The Book Publishing Industry and the co-editor of Media Economics: Theory and Practice, as well as a professor of marketing at Fordham's Graduate School of Business Administration.

Interviews for Book Industry TRENDS 2007 were conducted, analyzed and reported by Stephanie Oda and Glenn Sanilso of Open Book Publishing.

To order a copy of Book Industry TRENDS 2007, visit the BISG website.

Media Contact:
Karen Forster
Associate Director
Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
646-336-7141
karen@bisg.org
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About Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
The Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) is the U.S. book industry's leading trade association for policy, standards and research. The mission of BISG is to create a more informed, empowered, and efficient book industry supply chain. Membership consists of publishers, manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, librarians, and others engaged in the business of print and electronic media. For 30 years, BISG has provided a forum for all industry professionals to come together and efficiently address issues and concerns to advance the book community.

Learn more about BISG at www.bisg.org.

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