Self-Publishing Industry Insights – Q1 2022

This series is designed to provide a perspective on the self-publishing landscape. It’s derived from a combination of sales reports from the top-selling titles aggregated across all the platforms Draft2Digital has delivered to (retail, library, and subscription), sales reports from Smashwords (which includes distributed titles to retail and library platforms as well as the Smashwords store – the world’s largest indie author bookstore), as well as trends that the folks at Draft2Digital have been tracking based on conversations with authors and folks from across the industry.

LIVESTREAM – Listen in on the D2D team as they discuss these industry insights!

This time, we take a look at Q1 2022 sales (Jan/Feb/Mar), with comparisons to previous year trends, the top-selling self-published titles from Draft2Digital and Smashwords, and some predictions and thoughts about the state of bookselling and publishing.

To note, the majority of these reports are based on revenue rather than unit sales.

As Erin Wright of the Wide for the Win Facebook group is known to say: “Bank over rank!” is what keeps food on the table and a roof over an author’s head. Sure, plenty of unit sales and high ranking are fine, but an author can’t survive on ego alone.

Top-Selling Genres for Q1 2022 – Ranked in Order by REVENUE

FICTION / Romance

FICTION / Fantasy

FICTION / Mystery & Detective

FICTION / Erotica

FICTION / Action & Adventure

FICTION / Science Fiction

FICTION / Women

FICTION / Crime

FICTION / LGBT

HEALTH & FITNESS / Diet & Nutrition

FICTION / Family Life

FICTION / Coming of Age

FICTION / Historical

FICTION / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fantasy

YOUNG ADULT Fiction / Romance

This list is based on the merger of the higher-level classifications. For example, while you see FICTION / Romance at the top, this is really a look at the combined Romance subcategories.

Here’s a breakdown of the sub-categories of ROMANCE, again, in order of highest revenue.

FICTION / Romance

Contemporary

FICTION / Romance

Suspense

FICTION / Romance

New Adult

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Regency

FICTION / Romance

Billionaires

FICTION / Romance

Action & Adventure

FICTION / Romance

Paranormal / Shifters

FICTION / Romance

Military

FICTION / Romance

Science Fiction

FICTION / Romance

Romantic Comedy

FICTION / Romance

Paranormal / General

FICTION / Romance

Clean & Wholesome

FICTION / Romance

LGBT / Gay

FICTION / Romance

Sports

FICTION / Romance

General

FICTION / Romance

Erotica

FICTION / Romance

Fantasy

FICTION / Romance

Western

FICTION / Romance

Collections & Anthologies

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Scottish

FICTION / Romance

Paranormal / Vampires

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Victorian

FICTION / Romance

Historical / General

FICTION / Romance

Holiday

FICTION / Romance

Multicultural & Interracial

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Medieval

FICTION / Romance

Time Travel

FICTION / Romance

LGBT / Lesbian

FICTION / Romance

African American

FICTION / Romance

Paranormal / Witches

FICTION / Romance

Historical / 20th Century

FICTION / Romance

Historical / American

FICTION / Romance

Royalty

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Ancient World

FICTION / Romance

LGBT / Bisexual

FICTION / Romance

Later in Life

FICTION / Romance

Medical

FICTION / Romance

LGBT / General

FICTION / Romance

Polyamory

FICTION / Romance

Workplace

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Viking

FICTION / Romance

Police & Law Enforcement

FICTION / Romance

Firefighters

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Tudor

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Gilded Age

FICTION / Romance

Historical / Renaissance

FICTION / Romance

LGBT / Transgender

For the 2nd highest overall category, FANTASY, notice how the more traditional “Epic” fantasy (sword and sorcery tales most typically aligned with “Tolkien” adventures) is third highest. In recent years, paranormal and urban fantasy has overtaken this more traditional perspective of fantasy.

FICTION / Fantasy

Paranormal

FICTION / Fantasy

Urban

FICTION / Fantasy

Epic

FICTION / Fantasy

Dark Fantasy

FICTION / Fantasy

Romantic

FICTION / Fantasy

Contemporary

FICTION / Fantasy

General

FICTION / Fantasy

Action & Adventure

FICTION / Fantasy

Dragons & Mythical Creatures

FICTION / Fantasy

Historical

FICTION / Fantasy

Collections & Anthologies

FICTION / Fantasy

Humorous

FICTION / Fantasy

Gaslamp

FICTION / Fantasy

Military

FICTION / Fantasy

Arthurian

Notice, also, how high up “romantic” fantasy is on the list? And if you look back to the breakdown of ROMANCE sub-classes, you’ll see that a couple of the “Paranormal” categories (Shifters, and General), are in the top 10.

This is part of a long-term trend within indie publishing of the continuing popularity of cross-genre fiction. Because indie fiction isn’t worried about a single, often “scaled-back” higher level categorization that is required to place a book on the shelf of a bricks-and-mortar store, online customers can more easily find the specific niche fiction they enjoy, and often can pick and choose the more unique sub-genre combinations that appeal to them. Compare that the typical browser experience in a physical location where all the Science Fiction and Fantasy books (for example) are blended together, alphabetical by author in a merged realm.

The big-name authors typically stand out there, especially among the hundreds of mostly spined books. Whereas, in the digital realm of more than 3500 potential book categories, readers can discover and enjoy new voices with that fine-tune browsing. And that’s where an on-genre cover thumbnail, combined with a killer book description, can make a difference.

Global Growth

We’ve long been fascinated with global growth and are noticing those trends continuing. Here’s a look at global sales as reported from 2019, and what they are for Q1 of 2022.

Chart, pie chart

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The chart might appear to show that US sales are shrinking, but that’s not true. Sales in the US are larger than they were in 2019. However, as a percentage of overall global sales, they are smaller. This is because other territories are starting to grow.

Notice that between 2019 and 2022 ROW (Rest of World) sales. (IE, sales beyond the top 8 or 9 countries large enough to easily “see” on the pie chart) grew from 7.48% of sales to 8.43%.

We predict that we’re going to continue to see that growth as other countries around the world discover the joy of reading eBooks.

Trends to Pay Attention To

We’ve not only looked at data from numerous sales channels and talked to thousands of authors since the beginning of 2022, but the folks at Draft2Digital are also paying close attention to trends from the entire industry – not just indie sales.

And one thing we’ve noticed, particularly in the past month or two, is that sales are down across the board. Yes, they are still higher than they were in 2019; but the unprecedented growth that we started to see in March 2020 as countries around the world locked down in response to a global pandemic, has stopped.

As spring has arrived for much of the northern hemisphere (where the majority of the self-publishing and traditional publishing reporting happens), we have been tracking trends that show a decline in reading. This is from across all formats: paperbacks, eBooks, and Audiobooks.

We suspect that it’s not only that “get outside and enjoy the warmer outdoors” seasonal effect, but it is compounded with the lifting of lock-down and pandemic related restrictions for socializing, gathering in groups, and traveling. Just as, in March 2020, people were stuck inside and many of them started to discover the thrill and magic of eBook reading, now, people are currently spending less time “with their nose in a book.”

The main reason we want to share those insights with you is this:

If you are looking at your sales dashboard and frustrated that all the same marketing efforts that used to work wonderfully for you have recently fallen flat, it’s not you – it’s the overall industry itself.

Don’t panic. Don’t assume that everything you’re doing is suddenly wrong. Don’t believe that “nobody is reading my genre anymore” or any of that. In general, sales are down across the entire industry. But they will, as they always do, begin to stabilize.

Stay the course. Fight the good fight (writing and publishing the best books you can), and think about the long term.

As summertime in the Northern Hemisphere approaches, there will be more beach-reads happening. And, as the inevitable fall and Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons arrive (traditionally Q4 has always been the best time for selling books), sales will again normalize and grow.

Indie Bestsellers for April 2022

Indie authors are revolutionary trailblazers. Many of the books they are publishing are pushing forth . And with the combination of sales of distributed titles from the Draft2Digital and Smashwords systems, combined with sales from the Smashwords store (have I already mentioned that it’s the world’s largest bookstore for indie-only titles?), here’s a look at the Top 25 Indie Bestsellers for the month of April 2022.

(The reason it’s so late in reporting these sales – ie, the end of May when these sales are for April – is we have to wait until we receive sales report for all of our partners before we can present a comprehensive list)

As always, these are sorted by highest revenue versus highest unit sales. Congrats to these authors and their lucky readers. (The image represents that top 10 of the unique authors from the list)

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Title

Author

Genre

Only One Forever (Only One Series 8)

Natasha Madison

FICTION > Romance > Contemporary

Fallen Creed (Ryder Creed)

Alex Kava

FICTION > Action & Adventure

The Bunkmate (Roommate Wanted Series, #2)

Lexy Timms

FICTION > Romance > New Adult

The Score (Off-Campus, #3)

Elle Kennedy

FICTION > Romance > New Adult

The Flatmate (Roommate Wanted Series, #3)

Lexy Timms

FICTION > Romance > Sports

Sealed with a Kiss

Alexa Riley

FICTION > Romance > Contemporary

Walker (Grim Sinner’s MC Originals, #4)

LeAnn Ashers

FICTION > Romance > New Adult

The Mistake (Off-Campus, #2)

Elle Kennedy

FICTION > Romance > New Adult

The Goal (Off-Campus, #4)

Elle Kennedy

FICTION > Romance > Contemporary

Distant Shores (Cottage by the Sea Series, #2)

Lexy Timms

FICTION > Romance > Romantic Comedy

Falling Hard (Crimson Point Protectors Series, #1)

Kaylea Cross

FICTION > Romance > Military

The Beach House (South Carolina Sunsets, #1)

Rachel Hanna

FICTION > Women

Twisting Ocean (Cottage by the Sea Series, #3)

Lexy Timms

FICTION > Romance > Action & Adventure

The Dare

Harley Laroux

FICTION > Romance > Erotica

What a Day! Short Stories by Southern Writers

Linda Winstead Jones et al.

FICTION > Romance > Collections & Anthologies

Sunsets & Second Chances (South Carolina Sunsets, #2)

Rachel Hanna

FICTION > Women

Act of Freedom (PSI-Ops Series, #8)

Mandy M. Roth

FICTION > Fantasy > Paranormal

His Hidden Omega (Alpha Security Company, #4)

Mina Carter

FICTION > Romance > Suspense

Romeo (The Alpha Elite Series, #3)

Sybil Bartel

FICTION > Romance > Suspense

Mardi Gras Murder

Leslie Langtry

Fiction > Mystery & detective > Women Sleuths

Rafe (Wilde Love, #3)

Kelly Collins

FICTION > Romance > New Adult

Fireflies & Family Ties (South Carolina Sunsets, #3)

Rachel Hanna

FICTION > Women

Mr. Bloomsbury (The Mister Series, #5)

Louise Bay

FICTION > Romance > Romantic Comedy

Stone (Pittsburgh Titans, #2)

Sawyer Bennett

FICTION > Romance > Sports

Show Me Forever (The Maxwell Brothers, #3)

Layla Hagen

FICTION > Romance > Contemporary