4.4 Sales

Editors at university presses reported that the average total sales for an art history-related title over thepast three years were just over 1,100 copies. Maximum sales ranged from 1,200 at the low end to 15,000 at the high end. Minimum salesranged from 350 to 900.

Ten years ago, typical sales were estimated at just over 1,800 copies per title. This means that the sales of arthistory-related titles published by academic presses have declined, on average, by about 38% since the mid-1990s. Likewise, the averageprint run for an art history-related title in 2005 was about 33% lower than it was in 1995. For at least one university press, the2005 print run was higher than it might have been otherwise because "some printers do not print fewer than 1000 [copies], and given the high costs of reprinting, we print more than we think can sell, butprice to break-even at 500 or 600 for most books."

One of the primary sources of declining sales, according to conversations held with art history editors, is thefact that university libraries are purchasing far fewer copies of art history books than they used to. Although the survey data aresomewhat sketchy, it appears that sales to libraries (which, in 2005, accounted for about a quarter of the sales of art historytitles published by university presses), have declined by about 40 to 45 percent since the mid-1990s.