[SkyPuncher]

This stat is limited to print-books only. He talks about all sorts of other forms of content, but seems to mysteriously miss audio books.

If this source [0] is true then 65% of audiobooks (in 2022) were non-fiction. Likewise that the audiobook industry has grown by nearly 3x since 2022. So, by my math, it's simply that people prefer to listen to self-help books (which matches my own experience).

[0] - https://electroiq.com/stats/audiobook-statistics/

[nfcampos]

He does mention audiobooks, see quoted below

> But what about ebooks and audio? Looking at all formats (print + ebook + audio) for the catalog in 2025, the second half of the year was down ~45% versus the first half.

This compares to 46% on print only

[losteric]

How does this

> If this source [0] is true then 65% of audiobooks (in 2022) were non-fiction. Likewise that the audiobook industry has grown by nearly 3x since a2022.

Lead to

> by my math, it's simply that people prefer to listen to self-help books (which matches my own experience).

I'm not sure I see the math there, when most nonfiction is not self-help books (and an increase in the broader genre says nothing about a specific niche)

[EA-3167]

Even more than audiobooks self-help has become the preserve of substack blogs, podcasts and YouTube channels. A lot of the low end of older gen media has moved over to the low end of modern media.

[ghaff]

And my experience is that the freebie books available through your local library's online service absolutely pollute the available offerings with self-help and associated types of books.