In this episode, Jodi reacts to recent industry reports on declining nonfiction sales and explains why business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs who want to use a book as a marketing asset shouldn’t let these numbers/trends derail their book plans.
Time Stamps:
00:00 Nonfiction book publishing is not in peril
01:56 The sources sparking the “collapse” conversation
04:00 The numbers: Bookscan, the AAP, and Publishers Marketplace
05:53 Traditional publishing’s goal vs. your goal
07:46 Are business owners still reading? (Yes.)
08:45 Why nonfiction sales are declining
10:45 “Why would someone buy my book if the info is free?”
11:45 Using media to draw readers in, not check them off
13:00 Why the front-end work matters more now
14:00 Don’t let traditional publishing numbers stop your book
Keywords:
nonfiction book publishing, state of publishing 2026, nonfiction book sales, self-help book sales decline, business book, book as a marketing asset, book for business owners, self-publishing nonfiction, hybrid publishing, traditional publishing, intangible ROI, book ROI, author platform, building authority, building trust with readers, AI and nonfiction, how-to nonfiction, prescriptive nonfiction, book marketing strategy, BookScan data, six-figure book deals, professional author vs. business owner, writing a book for your business, thought leadership book, podcast guesting for authors
Resources Mentioned:
Jane Friedman’s “Publishing Industry Update: First Half 2026”
Tim Ferris blog post “Has AI Already Killed How-To Nonfiction? Sales Trends, My Personal Data, and What It Might Mean for the Future”
Sean DeLone’s Dear Head of Mine Substack by Sean DeLone “The Nonfiction Book Market Is Collapsing”
Book Brainstorm Session with Jodi: https://tidycal.com/jodibrandon/book-brainstorm
Coffee + Commas signup: https://bit.ly/coffeeandcommassignup
LINK TO FULL EPISODE (RAW) TRANSCRIPT:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13lil_M0lbUG8CqgDbhGI0cYXc4BHYm2dDCo7RrGRrJo/edit?usp=sharing
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