Thoughts, observations, and stories taking root one day at a time.
What Is Really Driving Book Sales?
As I walked through my local bookstore last week, I was surprised by the number of books on display. Tables filled the aisles, shelves seemed to reach in every direction, and printed books were everywhere.
I had assumed that most people now read on phones, tablets, or e-readers. That made me wonder: what are readers actually buying?
The numbers may surprise you.
In 2025, American publishers earned an estimated $21.7 billion from consumer books. Hardbacks and paperbacks together produced 73.1% of that revenue—about $8 billion from each format. Print remains the foundation of the consumer-book market.
That pattern continued into 2026. Through May, publishers reported approximately $1.4 billion from paperbacks, $1.3 billion from hardbacks, $500 million from digital audiobooks, and $430 million from eBooks.
Paperbacks were up 6.6% from the same period in 2025, while eBook revenue declined 3.5%. The fastest-growing major format was digital audio, rising 14.5%.
So what is driving the market?
Readers still value the physical experience of a book: the cover, the paper, the ability to place it on a shelf, lend it to someone, or give it as a gift. Bookstores also create discovery. A cover displayed on a table can catch someone’s attention in a way that a small digital image may not.
Digital reading still matters. eBooks offer immediate delivery, portability, adjustable text, and accessibility. Audiobooks are growing quickly because they allow stories to accompany people while driving, exercising, or working.
The future is therefore not simply print versus digital. Readers are choosing different formats for different moments.
My walk through the bookstore revealed something the numbers confirm: the printed book is not disappearing. It is sharing the market with new ways of experiencing a story.
Source: Association of American Publishers, 2025 StatShot Annual and May 2026 StatShot reports.
EPUB vs. Paperback: What Readers Are Actually Buying
Digital publishing has transformed how books reach readers, but it hasn’t replaced the printed book.
Through May 2026, U.S. trade publishers reported approximately $1.4 billion in paperback revenue, compared with about $430 million from eBooks. Put another way, for every dollar publishers earned from eBooks, they earned more than three dollars from paperbacks.
The direction of the market is interesting as well. Paperback revenue increased 6.6% compared with the same period a year earlier, while eBook revenue declined 3.5%.
This doesn’t mean digital books are disappearing. EPUB and other eBook formats provide something print cannot: immediate delivery, portability, adjustable text, accessibility features, and the ability to carry an entire library on one device.
But the numbers tell us something important about readers: physical books still matter.
For publishers, the future may not be a choice between EPUB and paperback at all. The opportunity is to give readers both—the convenience and possibilities of digital reading alongside the permanence and experience of holding a printed book.
The book is evolving, not disappearing.
Small Worlds, Sharp Images: iPhone Macro Tips
Macro photography reveals a world our eyes often pass over: the texture of a seed, water on a petal, or the fine structure of a mushroom. The challenge is that at such a close distance, the area that appears sharp becomes extremely thin. A tiny movement can shift the subject out of focus.
Start with light. Bright, soft light allows the iPhone to use a faster shutter speed, which reduces blur. Photograph near a window or outdoors in open shade. Avoid blocking the light with the phone itself. A small white card can reflect light back onto the subject and soften dark shadows.
Keep the phone steady. Brace your hands against a table, rock, or your body. If possible, use a small tripod and trigger the shutter with the volume button, Apple Watch, or a short timer. This prevents the movement caused by tapping the screen.
Do not move as close as the phone will allow. Back away slightly until the important details look crisp, then crop the image afterward. A little extra distance often produces a sharper photograph than forcing the lens to its closest limit.
Tap the exact detail you want sharp. Press and hold until AE/AF Lock appears, then gently move the phone forward or backward until that detail is clear. Because the sharp zone is so narrow, focus with your body rather than repeatedly tapping.
Take several frames. Even when the composition appears still, wind, breathing, and hand movement can change focus. A short burst gives you choices.
Finally, choose one visual priority. In macro photography, everything does not need to be sharp. Place the most meaningful texture, edge, or eye in focus and let the rest soften naturally. Sharpness is not about showing everything—it is about guiding attention to the small detail that tells the story.
Working with AI, Part One: You Bring the Vision
When people first hear about working with artificial intelligence, they often imagine that they need to understand programming, complicated software, or a new technical language. I have learned that a productive partnership with AI begins somewhere much simpler: with an idea, an honest conversation, and the willingness to build one piece at a time.
I do not need to know how to create every line of code before I begin. My job is to understand what I want the experience to feel like. I bring the purpose, memories, stories, photographs, and direction. AI helps translate those ideas into practical steps that can be tested and improved.
That difference matters. AI is not the source of the vision. It is a collaborator that helps give the vision a form.
A beginner does not need to open with a perfect technical instruction. Start by describing what you see in your mind. What should a visitor notice first? Should the experience feel peaceful, mysterious, warm, playful, or cinematic?
When we started developing this site, I could describe a seed glowing in darkness long before I knew how the animation would be built. That description gave us a shared destination. The technical decisions could then grow out of the feeling instead of controlling it.
Working with AI, Part Two: One Visible Step at a Time
Large requests can become confusing for both people and AI. A better strategy is to build in small, visible stages. We place one element, look at it, and decide what feels right or wrong. Then we change one thing at a time.
This is similar to building a house. You do not adjust the paint, roofline, wiring, and foundation all at once. You establish the structure, inspect it, and continue from there. Working with AI is most effective when each step gives you something real to react to.
You also do not need special vocabulary before you can contribute. If an animation feels too fast, say it is too fast. If a line looks like a coat hanger instead of a root, say exactly that. A familiar comparison can communicate more clearly than a technical term.
AI may interpret an idea differently than you intended. That is not failure. It is information. Explain what you noticed, show a photograph, make a sketch, or describe the physical space from another angle. Every correction creates a clearer shared understanding.
Working with AI, Part Three: Keep the Partnership Human
The strongest partnership happens when each side does what it does best.
The human brings judgment, meaning, taste, lived experience, and responsibility. AI brings speed, organization, technical translation, and the ability to explore possibilities quickly. The human decides what belongs. AI helps make it possible.
That means I do not have to accept the first result. I can say no. I can return to an earlier direction. I can recognize when we are spending too much time on one detail and set it aside.
Good collaboration is not about agreeing with everything the AI produces. It is about developing enough trust to experiment while keeping human judgment at the center. We need to know when to continue, when to simplify, and when to stop.
AI can help us move faster, but meaning still comes from the person who knows why the work matters.
Working with AI, Part Four: The Beginner’s Advantage
As a project grows, save the decisions that work. Keep the images, colors, words, interactions, and layouts that define it. Together they become a visual and creative language that both the person and the AI can follow.
Over time, the process becomes faster because we are no longer starting from nothing. We are building from a growing body of choices that already feel true to the larger vision.
Beginners sometimes see possibilities that experienced people overlook because they are not limited by assumptions about how something is normally done. You may not know the traditional process, but you know when something connects with you. That instinct has value.
The goal is not to make AI think for us. The goal is to use it as a bridge between imagination and execution. We bring the seed. Together, through patience, conversation, testing, and trust, we help it take root.