With digital publishing on the upswing, one would expect religious publishers to be seeing big increases in eBook sales, while print sales decrease. In fact, when it comes to paperback books the opposite is the case in America, according to a report from the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

In the first quarter of 2013, eBook sales were down 0.6 percent compared to the same period last year, AAP reported. Hardcover books were down even more, declining 7 percent. On the other hand, paperback sales rose nearly 4 percent. Despite this, overall religious book sales were down 2 percent compared to the first quarter of 2012.

What does this mean? Possibly that religious readers still prefer to hold the book in their hand, but given the state of the economy are not willing to shell out for the hard cover version.