Year in Review

An increasingly challenging distribution landscape, federal cuts to the IMLS and NEA, and the rise of AI made 2025 a turbulent year for the book business, despite some bright spots. Six authors who opted out of Anthropic’s proposed $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement earlier this year have filed new copyright suits against a handful of AI companies—including OpenAI, Google, and Meta—seeking larger payouts. PW’s longtime children’s editor Diane Roback will step back in March, taking on the role of editor-at-large. Consumer holiday spending rose nearly 4% from 2024, despite speculation that economic pressures would make buyers more tight-fisted, the New York Times reports. In the New Yorker, Vauhini Vara probes the possibility that readers will come to prefer AI-generated writing over books by humans. For the Guardian, author Ella Risbridger considers the romance boom and why, despite its enduring popularity, the genre is still dismissed by many critics. A coterie of today’s most interesting writers and thinkers shared what they read this year over at our literary vertical the Millions. And on Substack, author Lincoln Michel reflects on what he learned about the publishing industry from putting out a novel in 2025.

This is our last PW Daily of the year—both the newsletter and magazine will return on January 5. Happy holidays!