Is the end near for mass market paperbacks? (This week in books)

This week! Books!

Could the end be near for mass market paperbacks, the small book format that has populated many a supermarket rack over the years? Mass market paperbacks have declined to 3% of all book sales, profit margins were always slim, and distributor Readerlink will stop shipping them at the end of 2025. According to Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly, publishers including Harlequin and booksellers including Barnes & Noble largely view the decline as inevitable, aren’t racing to shore up the format, and believe sales will shift over to trade paperback.

Speaking of slim profit margins, an LLC formed by Laurene Powell Jobs is exploring whether nonprofit models may work for independent booksellers.

The latest outrage by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has many people looking for alternatives to the sprawling Amazon ecosystem, which includes the utterly decrepit book review/recommendation site Goodreads. Luckily alternatives have emerged, and David Barnett profiled Nadia Odunayo, the founder of StoryGraph, which is rising in popularity. Bye bye Bezos.

We Need Diverse Books announced the 2025 Walter Dean Myers Award winners, honoring diverse books by diverse creators. Congrats to all!

• Younger Readers Category (Award): Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston
• Younger Readers Category (Honor): The Creepening of Dogwood House by Eden Royce
• Teen Category (Award): Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson and illustrated by Ekua Holmes
• Teen Category (Honor): A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

There are tons of A.I. lawsuits percolating through the justice system, and Thomson Reuters won a first and big one against A.I. startup Ross Intelligence, who Thomson Reuters successfully accused of plagiarizing its legal research division Westlaw.

Ariella Garmaise at The Walrus profiles twenty-three-year old social media star Rayne Fisher-Quann, who recently received a “lucrative” book deal with knopf.

It’s hard to understate the impact Dave Eggers’ memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius had on culture and the writing world upon its publication in 2000, and Dan Kois at Slate has an appreciative look back at the seminal Gen X classic’s innovative elements and complicated afterlife.

I really enjoyed Sam Mills’ look at novels that experimented with the physical form of books and printing, starting with The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy from 1759.

And publicist Leigh Stein writes that the creator economy is coming for us all, whether we like it or not. But she places it in a long trajectory. While the tools are changing, as I have long argued, it has always been thus and it’s never been enough to “just” be a writer.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
2. Midnight Black by Mark Greaney
3. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
4. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
5. Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. The Technological Republic by Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska
2. Seven Things You Can’t Say About China by Tom Cotton
3. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
4. Lorne by Susan Morrison
5. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Young adult hardcover:

1. Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli
2. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
3. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
4. The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay with Neil Ardley
5. Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
2. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
3. Away by Megan E. Freeman
4. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
5. Little Leaders by Vashti Harrison

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• Stamp out vague catchalls in your writing

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally, the Euclid telescope has revealed an Einstein ring, proving that the immense gravity of a galaxy warps light and space time. Very cool!

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Photo: The Huntington, San Marino, CA