The ABA says it added 173 members last year and increased bookstore businesses by 9 percent to a grand total of 2,185. While there was considerable fear that scores of indie bookstores would not survive the pandemic, that has not come to pass. More than 300 members have been added since 2019. Some bookstores report that the customer base is now younger, in their teens and 20s, often seeking out romance by Colleen Hoover, Emily Henry, and authors popular on TikTok. Also notable: independent bookstores using ABA’s IndieCommerce platform have seen a 580 percent increase in online sales.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
