Book sales are in fact looking better than ever. As always, it’s about the frame of reference you prefer to use.

Because book sales were incredibly stunning during the pandemic, any comparison to the pandemic years will of course show a decline. But compared to 2019 and pre-2019? Book sales are still up significantly.

Fiction sales have skyrocketed, mainly in romance categories and in no small part due to TikTok. But I imagine those aren’t the books you most care about.

One of the most interesting findings to come out of the antitrust trial against Penguin Random House was that it lost market share between 2012-2022 (after the Penguin & Random House merger). Consolidation isn’t helping them with sales. Why? Partly it’s self-publishing stealing away sales (in genre fiction in particular).

But it’s also about the strength of many small players who I bet share your artistic values and have been doing better in recent years. The retail landscape has shifted in ways that makes it easier for them to compete, and independent publishers tend to attract loyal customers if they’re doing things right (e.g., strong consumer marketing via email).