The end of long form intensive literacy

Research indicates that reading longer texts, such as books, is increasingly going out of style, particularly in the context of the “Shorts era” dominated by TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Data shows a significant decline in leisure reading time over the past two decades. The average daily reading time for US adults dropped from about 23 minutes in 2004 to under 16 minutes by 2018, a nearly 30% decrease in just over a decade. This trend is especially pronounced among youth. For the demographic of 13-year-olds in the US, the number who reads for fun daily, declined from 35% in 1984 to 17% in 2019–20.

The rise of short-form video content is linked to reduced sustained attention spans, with neurological studies indicating altered brain responses in heavy users. This shift is attributed to the hyper-stimulative nature of these platforms, which condition users to prefer quick, bite-sized information over immersive, long-form content.

As a result, there is a noticeable decline in patience for long-form reading, with many people now opting for AI generated summaries, videos, or skimming instead of deep engagement with books.

The invention of the printing press started a revolution, taking the monopoly to publish books away from monks. Reading for pleasure or knowledge gain became mainstream. A few hundred years later, a new chapter on authoring, publishing and reading books is being written by the combination of the Internet, smartphones, social media and AI advances.

Globally, the average internet user now spends about 2.4 hours per day on social media (143 minutes in 2024) — up from roughly 1.5 hours a decade ago. In the US, 95% of teens report using YouTube, 67% use TikTok, and 16% say they use TikTok “almost constantly”. As these immersive platforms have rocketed in popularity, especially among younger generations, traditional reading has taken a back seat.

I’d argue however, that the desire for storytelling persists. However, the pathways to engagement have fundamentally changed, with digital platforms now playing a central role in discovery and consumption.

Additionally, humans seem to have a need to stimulate their senses. They need to feel, smell, touch things. They want to collect and feel ownership. A challenge with digital is there’s nothing really uniquely tangible outside the device you’re using. Buying, possessing, i.e. not actually reading, a book may satisfy that desire.

Selling books

Book industry revenues in the United States were $25.3 billion in 2000 and reached $25.7 billion by 2020, showing minimal growth over two decades. When adjusted for inflation, however, revenues actually declined by 38% between 2000 and 2022. Despite stagnant revenue, unit sales fluctuated significantly during this period. In 2012, 591 million units were sold, increasing to a peak of 825.8 million in 2021 before declining to 788.7 million in 2022. In the first half of 2023, print book sales declined by 2.7% compared to the same period in 2022, dropping from 363.4 million to 353.5 million units, this after a brief resurgence during the pandemic.

Annually, in the US, between 700,000 and 1 million new book titles are published, with roughly half being self-published, many of which sell only a few copies.

Online sales have become dominant, accounting for over 71.2% of all U.S. book sales by 2020, surpassing physical bookstore sales since 2017. Amazon plays a central role, capturing 65% of all new book sales online, including 41% of print and 67% of e-book sales. E-books make up about 21% of total book sales in the US, while audiobooks have emerged as the fastest-growing format, with revenue increasing by 53.39% between 2018 and 2022.

Religious books remain a strong segment, generating $1.42 billion in revenue in the US, an increase of 22% since 2020, with the Bible selling over 20 million copies annually.

The young adult segment, though smaller, has recorded the fastest growth, with its share of print sales increasing by over 34% since 2018.

Recently, sales are largely driven by specific demographics:

• Young Adult and children’s fiction: These categories saw significant growth, especially during the pandemic, often fueled by parental purchases or school programs.
• Audiobooks and digital formats: These appeal to multitaskers (e.g., commuters) but may reflect shorter, fragmented engagement rather than deep reading.
• BookTok and social media: Social media platforms have revived interest in certain books, but engagement is often emotional or aesthetic, focused on vibes, quotes, rather than sustained reading.

Paradox

Adnan Masood, recently published on Medium under the title: The Screen Time Paradox: How Social Media is Both Eroding and Revitalizing Reading

The piece is, ironically, marked as a 29 minutes long read! It examines the dual impact of social media and digital media on reading habits, presenting a nuanced picture of decline and transformation rather than simple erosion. In it, a summary reads, in part:

Social media isn’t killing books but rather is fundamentally changing reading habits. While leisure reading time and attention spans are down, especially in youth, social media (e.g., #BookTok) also creates new reading communities and boosts book sales.

The apparent contradiction of steady or even rising numbers of books sold, alongside research showing declining reading habits, can be resolved by examining what is being sold, who is buying, and how people are engaging with books.

The data suggest that:

• Less than 2% of titles drive most sales.
• Many purchased books are not read.
• Reading time continues to decline, especially among youth.
• Social media fuels interest in books, but often in ways that prioritize performance over deep reading.
• Sales numbers reflect market dynamics more than reading culture

Indeed, higher book sales do not necessarily mean people are reading more. A 2020 UK survey found that 54% of people hadn’t finished the last book they bought, and the average person owns nearly 20 unread books. Books are often bought as gifts, status symbols, or with good intentions but limited follow-through, what research call aspirational consumption.

Sales are heavily skewed towards a few books. While over a million new titles are published yearly, the majority sell very few copies. Bestsellers and long-established titles (like The Bible, Harry Potter, or The Very Hungry Caterpillar) dominate sales. High unit sales don’t reflect broad-based reading engagement.

Being a book author

No doubt, these trends make aspiration to becoming a book author even more challenging.

The number of books an author needs to sell to make a living varies significantly depending on the publishing route, royalty rates, book price, and overall income goals. There is no fixed number, but financial sustainability typically requires selling several thousand copies, especially for traditionally published authors due to advances and lower royalty rates.

For traditionally published authors, royalties usually range from 10% to 15% of the book’s retail price, but authors do not earn additional royalties until they “earn out” the upfront payment from the publisher. A typical advance for a first-time author is between $5,000 and $10,000, and many books never earn out this amount.

In contrast, self-published authors generally receive higher royalties, between 35% and 70% of each sale, depending on the platform and pricing. Selling a $14.99 book on Amazon KDP with a 60% royalty rate yields about $5.74 per copy, resulting in $34,440 from 6,000 copies sold.

However, most authors, especially new or self-published ones, sell far fewer than 6,000 books. On average, traditionally published books sell around 3,000 copies, while most self-published authors sell 250 or fewer. Shockingly, half of all traditionally published trade titles sell fewer than 12 copies annually.

Given these figures, earning a sustainable income from writing a book often requires multiple books, strong marketing, and long-term sales. The effort needed for the marketing aspect, including book tours, publishing on social media, etc., is often underestimated by budding authors.

Financial success often comes from publishing multiple books. Ten books each selling five copies per day can accumulate into a viable income over time.

Not surprisingly, many authors rely on spouses, side jobs, or complementary revenue streams like speaking engagements or consulting.

A new chapter has begun

Back then, the invention of the printing press started a revolution, taking the monopoly to publish books away from, primarily, monks. Pamphlets and books became accessible to many more. Reading for pleasure or knowledge gain became mainstream. A few hundred years later, a new chapter on authoring, publishing and reading books is being written by the combination of the Internet, smartphones, social media and AI advances.

Reflective engagement with long form text in books, may no longer be a premier way knowledge, insight or entertainment is delivered, but there will still a place for it.

The best we can and should do, is adapting with some clever steering along the way.