$33.4B
U.S. publishing revenue in 2025
The full U.S. publishing market for books and course materials grew 2.5% from 2024.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025The Dirty Bookworm reference desk
Romance reader and book buying statistics.
A quick, citable look at the book market, fiction readers, audiobooks, and the buying habits that keep the shelves interesting. For writers, bookish businesses, and anyone who wants the receipts.
Last updated September 23, 2026
At a glance
The shelf is still a serious business.
Romance sits inside a consumer book market where adult fiction is growing, print remains a powerful purchase format, and audio and ebooks keep climbing. The sources below are public, named, and linked beside every figure.
The book market
Publishing and buying statistics.
$21.7B
Consumer book revenue in 2025
Trade publishing, the consumer-book side of the market, grew 2.7% year over year.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025$7.1B
Adult fiction revenue in 2025
Adult fiction grew 3.9% from 2024, making it one of the strongest consumer-book categories.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 202573.1%
Trade revenue from hardbacks and paperbacks
Print remains the main way consumer readers buy books, even as audio and ebooks continue to grow.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025$2.5B
Digital audio revenue in 2025
Digital audio revenue increased 5.3% year over year across the U.S. publishing industry.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025$12.3B
Online retail revenue in 2025
Online retail was the publishing industry’s largest sales channel, after growing 3.1% year over year.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025The readers
Reading, listening, and buying statistics.
53%
U.S. adults read books or literature
The federal survey counted adults who read books in general, novels or short stories, poetry, or plays.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 survey38%
U.S. adults read fiction
The National Endowment for the Arts reported this as the share reading novels or short stories in the survey period.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 survey6.9%
U.S. adults did creative writing
The survey includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and plays in its creative-writing measure.
Source: National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 survey$2.2B
Ebook revenue in 2025
Ebook revenue across the U.S. publishing industry increased 3.2% from the previous year.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 202521.5%
Trade revenue from digital formats
Digital audio and ebooks together made up 21.5% of consumer-book revenue in 2025.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025Sources and methodology
No made-up numbers. Ever.
This page uses the latest public releases available from the named organizations as of September 23, 2026. Each number links to its original report or announcement. Figures are retained as published, and regional figures are labeled as regional rather than treated as global totals.
- Association of American Publishers, StatShot Annual Report for calendar year 2025, published August 10, 2026.
- National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022, based on the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts.