{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Paul Truesdell Podcast","title":"Almost Nobody Writes. Here’s the Proof. And Why That’s About to Change for You.","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1380,"description":"Almost Nobody Writes. Here’s the Proof.And Why That’s About to Change for You.A Handout for Folks Who Like FactsBy Paul Truesdell, JD, AIF, CLU, ChFC, RFC——————————Let me tell you why you’re here, or at least why I hope you’re here. You’re not here to write the next great American novel. You’re not here to craft fiction or chase a publishing deal or see your name on a shelf at Barnes and Noble. You’re here because somewhere inside you, there are stories that matter. Real stories. Your stories. The ones your children and grandchildren deserve to hear, the ones that explain where they came from and what shaped the family they were born into. Memories that will be cherished long after you and I are gone.The problem is, almost nobody actually writes those stories down. And I can prove it.The Size of the CountryThe United States population sits at roughly 342 million people as of early 2026. That’s the official Census Bureau figure, not one of those inflated estimates floating around the internet. Of those 342 million, about 260 to 270 million are adults, eighteen and older. Remember that number.Books: The Numbers Are Smaller Than You ThinkAccording to Bowker, the official ISBN agency in this country, self-published titles with ISBNs hit over 2.6 million in 2023, up about seven percent from the year before. Traditionally published titles, books that went through an actual publishing house, came in around 563,000 that same year and actually declined slightly. Toss in titles that skip the ISBN process, like many Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing e-books, and you’re looking at roughly three million or more new titles per year.Three million sounds like a lot until you realize nobody tracks unique authors. Bowker counts titles, not people. On the traditional side, industry estimates put it at roughly 300,000 to 600,000 unique authors per year, accounting for writers who publish multiple books annually. On the self-publishing side, when you narrow it down to people who...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/115-XsjkdwCpJ99xv-8oZ76t6jr8ScWEC5MYSKzL0ig/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82MTUx/OWRiNTc0NTk0Y2Nk/M2VjYTliMGVhN2Zm/YTZkZi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}