The China OpenBook Index, a measure of book sales in China, fell to 250 points in November, a sharp drop of 43.82 points from the previous month, according to the Index’s compiler Beijing Open Book Co Ltd. In percentage terms, the index lost 4.8% from a year ago and 14.88% from October. It was a record fall for the Index since it was launched 11 years ago.

Fu Yujin, an operation manager with the Jiangxi Xinhua Bookstore Group Distribution Department, said book sales in Jiangxi Province plunged in November from a sales peak in October due to seasonal factors as November is the slowest season for book sales. But Fu said the yearly fall of 3.25% in November was still within the normal range. In addition, the year-end audit in bookstores also contributed to the sales decline.

Xinhua Bookstore in Zhejiang Province reported 0.4% in retail sales in November, almost on par with the same month for 2008. In the first 11 months, the province reported an 11% percent growth in book sales. Qu Lili, the deputy general manager for retail business with the Sichuan Xinhua Wenxuan Bookstore Chain Co Ltd, said retail book sales fell 3.4% in November due to decrease sales traffic. Other provincial divisions of the Xinhua Bookstore Group also reported sluggish sales results in November.

Yang Wei, the director of market research and consulting with Beijing Open Book, said as many as 60% of book sales are relying on 5% of available books. The launch of Harry Potter VII in China at the end of 2007 helped the overall sales performance in the slow season, but book sales in November 2008 proved less satisfactory due to a lack of popular best-sellers. A decrease in best-selling titles in 2009 contributed to the slow sales, and overall weak consumer spending also affected book sales in China.

Key wholesale agencies and retail bookstores have made cautious forecasts for 2009  sales performance, and the overall situation is not optimistic. For instance, the Zhejiang Xinhua Bookstore, which had reported a 20% average annual growth in previous years,  reported only 11% sale growth for the first 11 months. Most provincial companies under the Xinhua Bookstore Group forecasted less-than-10% sales growth for 2009. Independent bookstores, particularly privately-owned ones, also find it more difficult to woo book buyers.

Industry analysts said online bookstores and e-books will continue to erode the traditional market of bookstores to put additional sales pressure on traditional bookstores.