Print book sales in the US are holding steady overall, now tracking at 5 percent lower than 2021, according to NPD BookScan. Current sales performance is 14 percent higher than the pre-pandemic market.
Colleen Hoover still retains five of the top 10 bestseller spots, and The New York Times has just published (gift link) a lengthy profile of her. She says in the article, “I read other people’s books, and I’m so envious. I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, these are so much better, why are mine selling the way they are?’” She says she cannot take credit for what’s happening. “The readers are controlling what is selling right now.”
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.
