Book Sales Fell 2.5% in 2011

Total book sales fell 2.5% in 2011, to $27.2 billion, according to estimates released Wednesday by BookStats, the annual industry sales survey coordinated by the Association of American Publishers and Book Industry Study Group. Unit sales rose, however, up 3.4%, to 2.77 billion with the discrepancy due to higher sales of lower-priced e-books.