Books are available in more formats and channels than ever today—a boon to reading everywhere. Readers can read books in print, large print, ebook, audiobook, and serialization formats and can access them through a variety of in-person and online platforms, including through ebook and audiobook subscription services and library apps. This is something to be actively celebrated, given the enormous competition for people’s attention with other media today. Unfortunately, authors’ earnings have not kept pace with the abundant availability of books, but have been in steep decline for the last decade and a half.

There are many factors contributing to this decline in book earnings, as we have discussed in connection with our earnings studies. A recent survey sponsored by the Authors Guild and conducted by the Codex Group, a book industry research and analytics firm, points to yet another likely cause: Not many active readers actually buy the books they read today. Instead, readers increasingly borrow ebooks and audiobooks from libraries, mostly from home through easy-to-use apps, or obtain them from friends, personal collections, or other free sources.

The survey asked regular readers (those who had read at least one book in the last month and four books in the last year) where they obtained the books they read or listened to in the prior month. The results were telling: Only about a third of readers and listeners bought new royalty-generating copies of books or audiobooks, including those acquired through a paid subscription service.

The survey further found that only 19 percent of books in text format were bought as new print or ebook copies (which give authors the highest royalties) while 6 percent were accessed through subscriptions, many of which pay authors a fraction of what they would earn on individual sales. Another 10 percent were bought used, sales which provide authors with no payment. 29 percent of books read were acquired through libraries, and the remaining 35 percent of books read were either borrowed from friends or family, came from a reader’s personal collection, or acquired through another source, such as piracy.

Among digital audiobooks, 36 percent of books listened to in the survey period were either purchased or acquired through a paid subscription, with subscriptions outranking audiobook purchases 2-to-1. 37 percent of audiobooks were sourced through digital library borrowing.

The shift from purchases to low or non-royalty generating channels has profound implications for the writing profession. According to the Authors Guild’s last income survey in 2023, the median income of a full-time author from their books is $10,000 a year, and $20,000 from all writing-related work combined. This is down roughly 42 percent since 2009 when the first consumer Kindles entered the marketplace.

The survey also found that the readers most likely to borrow from a library instead of buying a new book are college-educated, employed full-time, and earning more than $75,000 a year—not generally those who cannot afford to buy books. Interestingly, active library members read 16 percent more books than non-members and were nearly twice as likely to listen to audiobooks . The convenience of checking out an ebook or audiobook from the library and having it instantaneously downloaded to a device without ever leaving home, or of buying underpriced used copies from online aggregators, has a steep tradeoff, however: If authors cannot earn enough from writing, they will not be able to write for a living and will write less or not at all.

Several key findings have additional implications for authors’ incomes.

Key Findings

Most Readers Aren’t Buying New Books

Text and Audio Formats Combined

• Only 36 percent of people who read a book or listened to an audiobook in the last month bought a new book or audiobook (or obtained one through a paid subscription service) that generated royalties for the author in that time. Nearly two-thirds purchased nothing new.

Text Formats

• Only 25 percent of books (ebook and print) read in the last month were bought new or obtained through a subscription.
  • Just 19 percent of books in text format (print and ebook) read in the prior month were bought new.
  • 6 percent were obtained through a paid subscription such as Kindle Unlimited (which pays much less to authors).
• 10 percent were bought used.
• 29 percent came from public library borrowing—both print and digital.
• 16 percent were borrowed for free from other sources (including piracy) and another 19 percent were from personal collections.

Audio Formats

• 36 percent of digital audiobooks consumed were either purchased new or accessed through paid subscriptions like Audible. 37 percent of digital audiobooks were borrowed from libraries.
• 27 percent were acquired from other sources (including pirated copies).

Brand-Name Authors Feel the Impact Most

The survey tested a list of 35 major “brand-name” authors—including Stephen King, Colleen Hoover, Rebecca Yarros, James Patterson, and Sarah J. Maas—and found a pronounced borrowing effect:

• Fans of these authors were 35 percent more likely to have sourced their last book read from a library than readers of other authors. 
• They were 28 percent less likely to have purchased the book new.

In other words, the authors with the highest name recognition—and whose books libraries stock most aggressively—see the greatest substitution of borrowing for buying.

Gender Differences in Borrowing and Buying

• Men were more likely to purchase: 42 percent of male past-month readers bought a new book or audiobook or obtained one through a paid subscription, compared with 33 percent of women.
• For text formats (print books and audiobooks), women sourced 25 percent more books from public libraries than from new purchases (30 percent borrowed vs. 24 percent bought new).
• The audiobook gap is even more striking. Women sourced 44 percent of their digital audiobooks from libraries and just 32 percent from paid channels. Men showed the reverse pattern: 44 percent from paid sources and only 20 percent from libraries.

Audiobooks: Libraries and Subscriptions Dominate

• Public libraries were the single largest source of digital audiobooks, representing 37 percent of books consumed.
• Among paid channels, subscriptions (like Audible) accounted for twice the share of individual purchases (24 percent vs. 12 percent).
• Active library members bought 40 percent fewer audiobooks (either purchased outright or through a subscription service) than non-library users.

The Libby Factor

• Libby/OverDrive dominated digital library lending, commanding an estimated 70 percent of ebook borrows and 74 percent of digital audiobook borrows.
• Hoopla (14 and 16 percent, respectively) and CloudLibrary (12 and 8 percent, respectively) were distant runners-up. The Palace Project registered at 1 percent for ebooks and 0 percent for audiobooks.

Who Are the Most Active Library Borrowers?

The survey’s demographic profile of active library members challenges the assumption that borrowing is primarily driven by the need to service those who cannot otherwise afford books:

• Active library members are more likely to have household incomes above $75K, hold graduate degrees, and be employed full-time.
• Active library users read 16 percent more books than non-library readers—but bought 42 percent fewer new books.

Other Interesting Data Points

• 59 percent of past-month readers consider themselves current active public library members.
• Active library members are 14 percent more likely to live in suburban areas.
• Those earning under $75K are 28 percent more likely to not be active library members.
• Peak active library usage occurs among readers aged 25–44.
• Active library members are 46 percent more likely to listen to audiobooks and substantially more likely to read in both print and ebook formats than other readers.
• Those who read an ebook in the last month read at least 50 percent more total book units in the last month than those who didn’t.
• Non-library member ebook readers bought 73 percent more new books in the last month (2.2) than library members did (1.3).
• Non-library member, non-ebook readers also bought 73 percent more new books in the last month (1.1) than library members did (0.7).

What the Survey Results Reveal for Authors

As noted above, author incomes dropped 42 percent between 2009 and 2022, with median income for authors now below the federal minimum wage, Changes in how readers consume books may account for that, at least in part. The survey shows us that many books consumed today provide authors with no income or less income than they earned from print in the past. This is because:

• Authors earn less per book from an ebook than a hardcover book.
• Authors usually earn less per read from a library ebook than a print book or consumer ebook.
• Subscription services pay much less than sales on a per-book basis.
• Authors earn nothing on secondhand books sales. Although one would think that the author would have earned a royalty on the initial sale, that is not always the case, since many books sold by resellers on Amazon and other platforms were obtained as remainders or bookstore returns at steep discounts for which the publisher pays no or minimal royalties.

The Economics of Different Formats and Channels for Authors

Royalties from each of the various formats sold by publishers are calculated differently under most typical publishing contracts. For a traditionally published hardcover, authors typically earn a royalty calculated on the book’s list price: commonly 10 percent on the first 5,000 copies sold, escalating to 12.5 percent and then 15 percent on higher tiers. On a $30 hardcover, that’s roughly $3.00 to $4.50 per copy. Paperbacks typically earn a 7.5 percent royalty of the retail price, so on a $19 paperback sale an author makes around $1.43. (Note: Many small presses and academic publishers pay royalties calculated not on list price, but on net receipts—what the publisher receives from the retailer after the retailer’s cut and discounts to the retailer. These amounts tend to be 40 percent less than royalties earned on list price).

For ebooks and audiobooks, the standard publishing contract pays authors 25 percent of net receipts. Ebooks and digital audiobooks are also generally priced lower than hardcover and paperback editions. The retailer takes taxes, discounts, distribution fees, commissions, and other charges off the top. Of the remaining “net” amount, the author receives 25 percent. The amount that the author receives is meaningfully less than the hardcover royalty on the same title, even though the ebook costs the publisher essentially nothing to manufacture, warehouse, or ship. (For examples of how the math works, see E-Book Royalty Math: The House Always Wins and Publisher’s Own Analysis Shows Ebook Royalties Unfair to Authors.)

Library Ebook and Audiobook Library Lending

When a library purchases a print book, it circulates until it wears out. When it comes to ebooks and online audiobooks, by contrast, libraries acquire licenses from the publisher, usually for a limited amount of time (a year or two) or number of checkouts (e.g., 26). The books are served to the reader though platforms such as Libby hosted by third party lending solutions such as OverDrive and Hoopla. The library pays once for the duration of the license, paying around three times the price of a consumer ebook (e.g., $60) for a one-user-at-a-time ebook license. Of that amount, the author earns 25 percent after costs are deducted (as described above).

It is safe to assume that most library ebooks and audiobooks have more than four checkouts during the life of the license where the reader would have purchased it instead, which means that the author often loses some sales and income when readers switch to online library reading.

Library lending platforms like Libby have reduced the friction of borrowing to near zero (with the exception of wait lists). You borrow, read, return, and borrow again without leaving your phone. The survey data suggests this is reshaping behavior: Active library members buy 42 percent fewer new books than non-members, and the substitution effect is strongest for the most popular, widely stocked authors. Once a reader starts using the Libby app, the only thing that would make them buy an ebook is if the wait list is longer than they are willing to wait. Indeed, Amazon has also observed a significant reduction in eBook purchasing after customers make their first library borrow on a Kindle device.

Subscriptions and Streaming

On ebook subscription platforms like Kindle Unlimited, authors are paid a share of a pool, often at fractions of a cent and far less than they earn on a book purchase basis.

Used Books

Used book compete directly with new ones—without generating royalties. Online retailers now allow resellers such as Amazon’s own AbeBooks to sell secondhand books, which has opened up the “used” book market tremendously. Amazon places the resellers’ used and remaindered copies on the same buy page directly alongside the publishers’ new copies, generally at significantly lower prices, driving down sales of the publisher’s royalty-generating copies. Some of these books look new and are sold as “new” and yet still generate no royalties. These used and remaindered, like-new sales generate no royalties. The Authors Guild has raised this issue and fought to have used books removed from the main buy box on Amazon in order to mitigate the problem.

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The Authors Guild will continue to study the impacts of different formats and platforms on authors’ earnings. While we strongly support the availability of books through various channels and formats, we think it is helpful for readers to understand how authors get paid (or not) and the impact of their buying choices on author’ incomes and ability to keep writing. We also want to encourage everyone in the industry to work toward an equitable distribution of book and licensing income that is fair to authors and supports the future of U.S. human literature.