Religious presses reported a nearly 25% increase in e-books for the first nine months of 2012 versus January-September 2011, with sales of more than $43 million, according to the latest figures available from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The association has seen double-digit growth in religious digital books during several past reports.

Overall, religious book sales for the year-to-date versus the same time frame in 2011 saw a 7% drop to more than $405 million. Compared to September 2011, September 2012 experienced an 8.3% decline for religious presses to $69.3 million.

Religious paperback sales experienced a more than a 21% decrease for the year-to-date versus January-September 2011, with sales of nearly $120 million. In the same date range, religious hardcover sales were down more than 3%, with sales of nearly $204 million.

With nearly 1,200 publishers reporting, AAP's Monthly StatShot report included data from Concordia Publishing House, Gospel Light, Moody Publishers, NavPress, Thomas Nelson and Tyndale House Publishers, among others represented by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.