THIS WEEK


The Lead Story Review of the Year: digital sales


Digital sales edge up for the Big Six as print and e-book share stabilises after pandemic E-book sales grew slightly


for the Big Six last year, with Hachette leading the way once again, and have stabilised at just over a quarter of total sales


over a sal


Tom Tivnan @tomtivnan


E 


Top six combined 60m


45m 30m 15m


-book sales for the UK’s biggest trade publishers collectively rose slightly (0.8%) year on year, but the 43.6 million units sold in 2023 still represents the second-lowest total the Big Six generated as a group in the past dozen years. Hachete once again retained its grip as the


UK’s biggest traditional trade e-book house— only twice in the 12 years since The Bookseller began collecting this data has usual second- placed finisher Penguin Random House bested it. With Hachete’s 4.5% year-on-year


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BONNIE GARMUS BAGGED MORE THAN HALF OF PRH’S DIGITAL NUMBER ONES LAST YEAR


Hachette 1


24m 18m 12m 6m


PRH 2


24m 18m 12m 6m


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2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019


‘E’ volume 48,995,926


48,058,363 45,122,454 48,153,063 49,575,876 47,183,653


Growth 14.3%


–1.9% –6.1% 6.7% 2.9%


–4.8%


2020 54,516,784 15.5% 2021 47,540,064 –13.0% 2022 2023


43,304,152 43,642,572


06 2nd February 2024


–8.9% 0.8%


2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023


‘E’ volume 14,659,000


14,495,000 14,191,000 20,055,332 19,036,763 17,428,058 20,143,010 17,454,776 15,310,203 15,992,555


Growth 7.4%


–1.1% –2.1% 41.3% –5.1% –8.5% 15.6% –13.0% –12.3% 4.5%


2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022


‘E’ volume 16,129,926


14,801,363 12,343,964 11,918,842 15,134,970 14,560,534 14,913,651 13,788,122 12,300,000


Growth 17.6%


–8.2%


–16.6% –3.4% 26.9% –3.8% 2.4%


–9.0% –10.8% 2023 12,187,674 –0.9%


FRIEDA MCFADDEN HAS BEEN A HIT IN PRINT FOR BOOKOUTURE


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