Book sales up 7.2% in January 2008

The American Association of Publishers reported this week that book sales saw a 7.2% increase for the month of January 2008. The breakdown looks like this

• Adult hardcover category -  $94.4 million sales
• Adult paperback category -  $135.2 million sales
• Adult mass market category - $65.3 million sales
• Children’s/young adult paperback category - $34.0 million sales

Read the entire press release to see all the figures, including university press figures and professional and scholarly publishing stats.

Personally, I'm so happy to hear that people are reading more (assuming they are actually reading the purchased books!) in this age of TV-induced ADD, fast food culture, and headline news from sound clips. And I recognized last night that I am at my happiest when I read books to my two small children.

Professionally, this supports my stance that book publishers need to XMLize content so they can aptly re-use, search, deliver, enhance, and understand their most valuable assets.