Women Now Publishing More Books Than Men — And It’s Helping Sales
Economist Joel Waldfogel looked at how women and men have influenced the publishing industry for the last 70 years and found that since 2020 at least, women have been publishing more books than men.
Data Waldfogel analyzed from “Goodreads, Bookstat, Amazon, and the National Library of Congress” revealed that the percentage of books published by women increased from 20% in the ’70s to more than 50% by 2020. This is the first time this has happened in the U.S.
With this increase in books published by women comes another increase: the Association of American Publishers has said that revenue for the publishing industry rose 12.3% in 2021, generating $29.3 billion.
Though this increase in books published by women may have dislodged a few male authors, Waldfogel notes, it has grown the industry overall, offering a diversity of voices that wasn’t available to readers before.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
More breaking news here
- HayMarket Books Runs Books Not Bars Fundraiser for the Holidays
- Oprah Announces Book Club Pick and a New Podcast
- These are the Most Read Books of the 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge
- The New York Times Announces its Best Books of 2024
- The Best New Books Out in December, According to Indie Booksellers
- Most Costco Locations Will Stop Carrying Books
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads in November
- Voting Begins for the Final Round of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards
- The New York Times Announces its 100 Notable Books of 2024
- NPR Shares Their Big List of Favorite Books for 2024
