Independent Thinking on Publishing's Future
Introduction The phrase “American publishing” immediately conjures the images of brownstone offices of storied houses, the annual book fairs in New York and Chicago, and the blockbuster sales of celebrity authors. It’s an industry deeply intertwined with the nation’s cultural narrative, seemingly as American as jazz or baseball. Yet a closer look at the corporate … Read more
Introduction American publishing is not shrinking in dollar terms: publishers’ revenue reached $33.4 billion in 2025. What is in decline is the old model, as consolidation, Amazon’s power, the attention economy and low author incomes reshape who gets published and who gets read. Key points The question of whether American publishing is in decline is … Read more
Introduction Discussing Donald Trump and the publishing industry is like watching a financial thriller with a side of constitutional drama. He’s been simultaneously a boon to book sales and a potential disaster for the bedrock principles that publishing stands on: free expression, open discourse, and a stable, predictable economic environment. The sheer volume of books … Read more
Introduction Ask any publisher in America what keeps them up at night, and you might hear: “Amazon, AI, and maybe a little politics.” But the politics part gets louder when Donald Trump is involved. As a polarizing figure who has had an outsized influence on media and public discourse, a second Trump presidency raises a … Read more