AAP August 2026 StatShot: Publishing Up 8.9%, Trade Up 12.5%

How did U.S. publishing revenue look in August? Higher than a year earlier, with trade books ahead of the industry as a whole. On October 14, 2026, the Association of American Publishers released its August 2026 StatShot. Total revenue across all categories was $1.2 billion, up 8.9% from August 2025. For the year to date, revenue was $7.9 billion, up 5.9% from the same stretch of 2025.

The report covers Trade (consumer books), Education (PreK-12 instructional materials and higher-education course materials, combined), and Professional and Scholarly publishing. The full report is for sale on AAP's website. The association's running coverage is on our AAP page. Our writeup of the previous month is the July StatShot.

Trade books in August

Trade revenue in August was $904.7 million, up 12.5% from August 2025. AAP's format lines for the month:

Format	August revenue	Change from August 2025
Hardback	$320.2 million	up 13.8%
Paperback	$333.3 million	up 17.6%
Mass market	$6.2 million	down 14.6%
Special bindings	$20.4 million	up 3.7%
eBook	$83.9 million	down 5.7%
Digital audio	$105.4 million	up 12.6%
Physical audio	$400 thousand	down 35.2%

Paperback was the largest trade format in the month, at $333.3 million, just ahead of hardback at $320.2 million. Digital audio, at $105.4 million, brought in more than ebooks, at $83.9 million. Mass market, at $6.2 million, was the smallest of the physical formats AAP lists, and it was down. Physical audio was $400 thousand, down 35.2%.

Trade for the year so far

Year-to-date trade revenue was $6.3 billion, up 6.5%. The format lines for the first eight months of 2026:

Format	Year-to-date revenue	Change from 2025
Hardback	$2.1 billion	up 3.1%
Paperback	$2.3 billion	up 11.8%
Mass market	$26.9 million	down 57.2%
Special bindings	$152.6 million	up 14.5%
eBook	$685.1 million	down 3.4%
Digital audio	$806.3 million	up 12.6%
Physical audio	$3.5 million	down 11.9%

The year-to-date pattern is the same shape as August, in milder form, except for mass market. Hardback is up 3.1% for the year against 13.8% in the month. Paperback is up 11.8% for the year. Ebooks are down 3.4% for the year, to $685.1 million, a smaller drop than August's 5.7%. Digital audio is up 12.6% both for August and for the year, to $806.3 million year to date, which is more than year-to-date ebook revenue. Mass market is down 57.2% for the year, to $26.9 million.

Religious presses

Religious presses revenue was $85.3 million in August, up 11.0% from August 2025. Hardback was $53.8 million, up 16.2%. Paperback was $15.2 million, up 5.1%. Ebooks were $3.9 million, down 8.6%. Digital audio was $4.3 million, up 3.2%.

For the first eight months, religious presses revenue was $558.4 million, up 2.2% from the same period in 2025. Hardback was $329.0 million, down 0.1%. Paperback was $108.1 million, up 7.8%. Ebooks were $32.6 million, down 1.8%. Digital audio was essentially flat, at $31.7 million.

Professional, scholarly, and education

Professional and scholarly publishing, including business, medical, law, technical, scientific, and other books, and excluding journals, was $29.6 million in August, up 8.0%. For the first eight months it was $261.5 million, up 1.8% from the same period in 2025.

Education materials went the other way in the month. August revenue was $256.8 million, down 2.8% from August 2025. Year to date, education materials were $1.2 billion, up 1.8% from the first eight months of 2025. Trade rose faster than the all-category total in August. Education is the large category that fell.

How to read the snapshot

StatShot reports net revenue of publishing houses from U.S. sales to bookstores, wholesalers, direct to consumer, online retailers, and other channels. It draws on more than 1,411 publishers, and AAP says participation may fluctuate slightly from report to report. The reports are monthly and yearly snapshots, using the best data available, and they reflect the latest revenue those participants have reported for the current period and for earlier periods.

AAP's own caveat is that one month's report may not line up with an earlier one. The pool of participants can change. Publishers also restate revenue they reported before, which AAP describes as ordinary accounting. If a house later finds that a year's revenue was higher than it first reported, it restates, and later StatShots pick up the revised number. A year-to-date figure in this August report is not a number you can subtract from July's year-to-date figure and call the difference a clean August. The July piece linked above is an earlier snapshot, not a row in this one.

Why it matters for authors and publishers

The August trade number is $904.7 million, up 12.5%, inside an industry total of $1.2 billion, up 8.9%. Within trade, the two big print formats are where the dollars are: paperback at $333.3 million, up 17.6%, and hardback at $320.2 million, up 13.8%. Digital audio grew at the same 12.6% rate in the month and in the year, and in both windows it is larger than ebook revenue, which fell. Mass market is a small line and a shrinking one, down 14.6% in August and 57.2% for the year.

For anyone comparing their own sales to "the industry," the footnote is the part to keep. These are reported revenues from the houses in the StatShot pool, more than 1,411 of them, selling through bookstores, wholesale, direct, online, and other channels. The pool can change, and prior months can be restated. A strong August in this report is a strong August for the publishers who reported it.

Sources

• Association of American Publishers, October 14, 2026: AAP August 2026 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Up 8.9% for the Month of August, and Up 5.9% Year-To-Date