Self-publishing trends for 2026

Self-publishing is booming! A year ago I shared the self-publishing statistics for 2024. There were some exciting statistics too - such as over 50% of #indieauthors feature in Kindle's Top 400 books in 2023, that was a 53% increase from 2022. Earnings have risen as a result - according to Amazon more than 2,000 self-published authors have surpassed $100,000 in royalties. Adam Croft is a good example: he self-published NINE books, selling half a million copies, turning down numerous publishing deals before finally agreeing to join the Amazon imprint, Thomas & Mercer.

So where are things going to go from there? What's in store for #indieauthors in 2026 and beyond? It might be contentious to say so but traditional publishing continued to languish in the twentieth century, #indieauthors continue to increase market share because they stay ahead of the game. Knowing how others are succeeding - and replicating that success for ourselves - is how to make things work for you. Self-publishing is a business after all, and like any business, you need to analyse what others are doing - and do it too!

Growth Areas

Let's start with some basic facts: the increase in self-publishing is linked to the ebook. It's cheaper for readers to buy and better for the environment. In the UK last year, ebook revenue increased by 17%. In 2023, the UK market share was 36.7% of readers who were classified as being in the High income income group, more than half were male. That said, Generation Z is a growth area and is expected to lead the growth of the ebook from 2026 onwards.

The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is a fancy term for how quickly an industry is growing.

This graph shows the potential for #indieauthors over the next decade. Ebooks are the future!

The same is true for audiobooks. According to the Alliance of Independent Authors, in the last year there's been a 36% increase in use of audiobooks. The trend is driven by a population of busy people who don't have time to sit down and read books, they listen while they're commuting (on the train, bus or in the car) for instance, it's easy because you don't need to carry heavy books, the content is on their phones or iPads.

To prove the extent of this growth, the Speakies Audiobook Awards are going to celebrate the work of voice actors who narrate stories - and unlike many awards, they are explicitly open to indie authors! There is an existing award - the Audies, run by the Audio Publishers Association but these have been largely dominated by major publishers.

It's worth mentioning AI narration tools like Amazon’s KDP Virtual Voice that offer a way into audiobooks that would otherwise be financially out of reach for #indieauthors. While some voice actors will agree a royalty share with you, this may not be an option if sales aren't tempting enough. Virtual Voice fees vary from $3.99 and $14.99 though some authors have complained how the AI cannot doesn't always pronounce words accurately and can be confused by some punctuation. There's also the ethical issue, using AI denies the use of human voice actors!

Print of Demand (PoD) is another growth area which confounds the traditional publishing sector that has to print in quantity and risk the volume will sell. The self-publishing sector buy the number of books they want, acknowledging that smaller numbers increase costs. Even so, last year, the global market was valued at $10.2B. It’s projected to reach almost $103B by 2034. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR - defined above) of approximately 26%.

The major market share for PoD is in the USA. They have the largest number of publishers and purchasers (like bookshops, libraries and individuals). To give you an idea of the scale: PoD books are sold in 17,500 stores in the US, just a thousand in Canada and the UK, Australia, Germany & France have half that number again.

This method is driving a trend in self-publishing - to direct sales. The adoption rate varies widely: while 87.5% of authors have a website, only 29.6% currently sell books directly to the customers. Lower-earning authors (under £250 annually), direct sales are rare, with most sticking to third-party platforms like Amazon or Kobo for their reach and simplicity. Mid-income authors (£251–£2,500) start experimenting with platforms like Draft 2 Digital or BookFunnel to sell directly while maintaining their presence on larger platforms. There are benefits from this approach: direct sales lets author keep more profit, they get to build stronger reader relationships and offer perks like exclusive content or signed books. The downside is the risk of bulk purchasing - then not selling!

The answer to that last problem lies with one more feature that business leaders need to understand - data analysis. You need to know your market, intimately. Understanding your readership, making sure they recognise your brand, knowing what others are doing - all this is vital.

Regularly interrogating your dashboards - perhaps also your website to see what blog posts are generating traffic. Let me illustrate that last point - in July 2024 I posted an article called The A to Z of British (and Irish) Mythological Creatures - as of mid-November 2025, this post has received over 48,000 views. It not only tells me the popularity of the topic but Google analytics show the largest percentage of viewers are from America. This stat ties in with sales figures for my noir fantasy series, The British Bureau for the Arcane series, where America is my best market. It means I can be more confident where to target my marketing and sales.

The Niche Market

There's an old sales slogan that goes, "Sell to everyone, sell nothing." This advice follows on from the ending to that last section: it's knowing your market. Readers are more discerning now. They're willing to take a risk - particularly if that risk isn't too expensive. If your book is on Kindle Unlimited, the reader has nothing to lose, they can experiment. (I've come across so many great authors that way!). If you target your pricing structure too, keeping ebook prices low to tempt someone to read your book. Platforms like Amazon (and others listed above) offer promotional offers (like giving a book away free for a week) to broaden your market awareness. The bottom line here - experiment, cut your losses for a while to attract audiences, know which niches are best for you.

Data tells us the two most popular (and therefore profitable) markets are Romance and Speculative Fiction (Fantasy, Science Fiction). The fantasy market is perhaps where there are the most niche audiences - readers will seek books that qualify as urban, high, low, grimdark and epic fantasy (and I haven't included gaslamp, historical, gunpowder, punk and the rest!). As with any market, it pays for customers to know what to expect from you - it's brand recognition. Do you brand your work (covers, book blurb, social media etc) with language which defines your stories? Or do you just hope they will see your book cover and buy it? 🤔😥

Here are some strategies to help you identify profitable niches:

Research Amazon Bestseller Lists: Keep an eye on what’s trending in various categories. This can give you insights into what readers are currently interested in.

Analyse Social Media Platforms: Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads are treasure troves of information. Look for popular topics and hashtags to gauge reader interest.

Use Online Tools: Tools like Google Trends and Keyword Planner can help you identify popular search terms and emerging trends.

Engage with Readers: Direct feedback can be invaluable, especially via social media, it's worth thanking reviewers for kind comments and mentioning a specific comment, it shows you care! Use surveys, social media polls too.

Select bloggers for reviews and blog tours: not just any blogger but those people with a specific focus on your target audience, they're more likely to agree if they know you AND appreciate your style of storytelling.

Become an Influencer

Influencers carry enormous responsibility and enormous marketing potential. They can be found on Instagram and TikTok, often talking about great books they've read.

Increasingly, #indieauthors are also becoming influencers too. The publishing market is saturated and getting recognised and known means being seen.

It can start by appearing on online events - such as author panels at conventions (in the real world and online). A bunch of my writer friends and I regularly engage with Spotlight Indie - a collaborative group of wonderful people who organise events for #indieauthors. They have their own YouTube channel where influence can be extended even further.

YouTube is another way to get yourself "out there". Use simple videography (try Canva or Streamyard) to create effective resources to share on your channel and on social media.

You don't have to do this on your own either. Find a group to join (or create one!). Here in the UK I'm part of the Creative Commune - a bunch of #indieauthors who publish a free magazine six times a year that promotes our work and empowers others at the same. Earlier this year we wrote and published a collaborative story - 9 authors: 1 story - called Realm Raiders. You can find it in the Creative Commune link above - there's also a blog post about the experience here.

Conclusion

I've made the deliberate choice not to touch upon the basic topics - the importance of hiring an editor and a cover designer, marketing strategies, pricing structures etc. These are covered in my blog in greater depth. I wanted to look at the way publishing is changing and how we need to be familiar with these changes - and embrace them.

At a convention I was asked this question: "What proportion of your time is spent writing, how much everything else?" (By "everything else" they meant the business and enterprise element of being an author.) My answer? 50-50. I spend half my time promoting my work, analysing the market and my sales, staying familiar with trends and lots of time engaging with others on social media to cover all those things. The more I've done that, the more my sales figures improve. I can always tell when I get caught up with writing and overlook the rest of the job - my sales plummet!

I hope you find this article helpful. I'd love to get your reaction - find me on BlueSky (@philspeculates.bsky.social). If you want to find out more about my books, click on this image: