As Publishers Weekly reported yesterday, there’s a little bit to celebrate this week in Bookland.
Industry analyst and Circana BookScan employee Brenna Connor recently gave a bird’s eye view of the industry at the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute. According to Connor, who “specializes in the U.S. book market,” book sales are slightly better than stable despite grim consumer conditions over all.
BookScan, “which tracks $3.4 trillion in retail channels,” found that adult fiction sales rose 1% in 2025. And if this sounds like small potatoes, consider that 1) volume is up nearly 50% since 2020, and 2) reading is still generally down in America.
What are the other key takeaways from this latest analysis?
Indies are propping up the book market.
Connor told booksellers that things continue to look up for indies. In fact, sales are flat across the general market. So indies can account for that helpful bump.
This could be because our digitally mediated hellscape has put a premium on third spaces. As Adele Peters reported last December in Fast Company, indies “have made a sense of community core to their identity,” and readers have responded. Author events and the rise of the bar/bookstore may also help explain their increasing appeal.
The analog fetish is good for books.
Despite what you may see on the gram or Elon Musk’s X, a mounting body of evidence suggests that consumers are weary of AI slop. So weary that the kids are going analog. Vinyl, posters, SLR photography—it’s all roaring back with a vengeance.
For those who love to objectify, that old attic book smell stays unbeatable. And if you give a mouse a cookie, etc.
Orwellian fiction is here to stay.
According to BookScan, George Orwell “charted among 2025’s top 20 fiction creators.” Which makes sense, given rising fascism, general dystopic vibes, and the fact that judges keep citing the man in rulings.
1984 in particular has seen a surge in sales over the past two years.
Sci-fi is predicted to up the ante in 2026.
Connor told booksellers that dark romance and escapist fiction accounted for a lot of the adult bump, genre-wise. She predicted a 2026 tide of “more genre mash-ups,” and—to this nerd’s delight—sci-fi supplements to the romantasy market.
Last year, BookTok and the Rebecca Yarros phenomenon drove a lot of readers to the edge of this world. But Connor imagines that our thirst for dystopias has only just begun.
Plenty to look forward to, on this front.
