We start the week with some good news that segues interestingly out of the news that many indie authors have found alarming at the end of last week. The indie corner of the internet has been filled with little other than discussion (much heated) of Draft2Digital's decision to introduce fees for new and low-activity accounts in the face (it claims) of a vast increase in artificially generated content.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
The segue comes because it was just two months ago that I reported on Draft2Digital's partnership with Bookshop.org, a move that made it incredibly easy for indie authors to take advantage of Bookshop.org's expansion into e-book distribution. The partnership completed the loop as it were between indie-supporting reader, indie bookstore, and indie writer, creating an ecosystem to benefit them all.
Impressive Growth Numbers
The move into e-books is one of the key factors behind this week's news, which sees a whopping 55 percent increase in Bookshop.org's sales, taking it to $70 million. The site's UK homepage tells me the company has now passed on £5 million to independent bookstores since its founding in 2020 ($6.75 million). I am guessing that's just the UK arm of Bookshop.org as this article in Publishers Weekly suggests the overall total is some $46 million, which makes the company quite a big deal for the whole indie scene, including us as writers.
An interesting stat is that since the launch of e-book sales in early 2025, e-books have grown to 5 percent of the company's overall sales. A significant contribution, but one that leaves a lot of room for growth. It was interesting to read that Bookshop.org is still actively pursuing plans to launch its own e-reader.
Genre Trends and Growth Opportunities
Also of interest is what people are reading. That romance is a dominant factor is no surprise on the surface. But that it has climbed from a negligible base to that position in the years since the company launched is a sign that Bookshop.org is breaking into a wider reader base. And most interesting of all was to read that the company now wants to see a similar growth in thrillers and mystery. So if that's where you write, take note!
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