E-book sales in the U.S. remain stagnant
In the realm of digital literature, audiobooks have emerged as the fastest-growing format in the United States, according to current sales trends. While e-books show a more stable but slower growth, print books continue to dominate the market.
The Kindle app in the US received an update earlier in the year, introducing the Buy Book function, joining the ranks of other e-reader platforms like Barnes and Noble NOOK and Rakuten Kobo, who introduced similar functionality a couple of months later.
Audiobook sales revenue reached approximately $2.2 billion in 2025, showing a high growth rate of around 13% in 2024. This growth outpaced both print and e-books, with digital audio formats accounting for roughly 11.3% of total book revenue in May 2025, bringing in $84.1 million in monthly revenue. Streaming platforms like Spotify are also expanding their audiobook subscription offerings, indicating increasing consumer accessibility and a growing distribution ecosystem in audiobooks.
On the other hand, e-book revenue was about $2.4 billion in 2024, but showed a slight decline or stabilization recently. Trade e-books represent around 11.5% of sales revenue for mainstream consumer book publishers, while the total e-book market share in 2024 is estimated at roughly 21% of total book sales.
Michael Kozlowski, a veteran writer with eighteen years of experience in the field of audiobooks, e-books, and e-readers, has been closely following these trends. His email address can be found at michael@our website. Kozlowski resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Despite the growth of digital formats, print books remain dominant, contributing a majority of revenue (around 55-72% depending on category) despite gradual declines and some softening observed in print sales during early 2025.
The key drivers for growth in the audiobook sector include growing consumer preference for audio content, particularly driven by multitasking and mobile device usage, expansion of audiobook platforms and subscription models, and publishers increasingly focusing on audiobook production and marketing. For e-books, stable demand among certain reader segments valuing convenience and portability is balanced against market saturation and competition from print and audio formats.
In the audiobook sector, Audible holds the strongest market share. Services like Libro.fm offer a subscription and all audiobooks are DRM-free. Year-to-date, digital audiobook revenues increased by 3.1%, totaling $412.2 million, while year-to-date e-book revenues were up 2.9%, totaling $440.5 million. Physical Audio revenues, however, decreased by 42.6% year-to-date, totaling $1.9 million, and by 54.9% in May 2025, totaling $400,000.
These trends reflect ongoing digital transformation within the U.S. book market, with audiobooks emerging as a significant player in the digital landscape.
- The Kindle app, joining forces with other e-reader platforms like Barnes and Noble NOOK and Rakuten Kobo, now offers a Buy Book function, catering to the growing demand for e-reader gadgets in the digital literature scene.
- In the realm of entertainment, smartphones are increasingly being used to access audiobooks, streaming platforms like Spotify adding audiobook subscriptions to their offerings, broadening consumer accessibility and shaping the distribution ecosystem.
- Social media, technology, and e-readers have intertwined in the literary world, with Michael Kozlowski, a veteran writer, following trends in audiobooks, e-books, and e-readers, providing insights that are easily accessible via his email address online.
