In this episode, Matt & Lauren look back on this year in publishing. We review some of our predictions from 2024 and how those trends impacted the industry in 2025, including:
- How AI continued to dominate the conversation
- Why more and more authors and publishers are exploring direct sales
- How traditional publishers are adopting print-on-demand solutions
- Why building community is more important than ever
Listen now, or watch the full episode on YouTube!
Dive Deeper
💡 Explore These Resources
- Lulu | 2025 Books & Business Insights Report
- Kajabi | State of Creator Commerce Report 2025
- Jane Friedman | The Key Book Publishing Paths: 2025–2026
💡 Listen to These Episodes
- Ep #52 | Did Indie Authors Publish and Prosper in 2024?
- Ep #56 | The Indie Author's Guide to Going Wide With Your Book Distribution
- Ep #68 | Maximizing Your Chances of Discoverability in Generative AI Search
- Ep #96 | Building a Landing Page for Your Book
💡 Read These Blog Posts
- Author Research: What the Top 5% of Creators Do Differently
- Digital Printing for Traditional Publishers
Sound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [18:20] “[Selling direct] has become so common and so easy that I think that not only will it continue, but I think you're really gonna start seeing a lot of major players adopting it now going into 2026.”
🎙️ [27:15] “I don't think we're gonna be living in a world much longer where it's an us versus them mentality, indie publishing versus traditional publishing.”
🎙️ [40:25] “I think that this year people really kind of had the reality check of, oh shit, we can't do it this way. I cannot put all of my eggs in this basket if I'm not the one holding the basket.”
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