The 2026 author imperative: Inspire or bust

The news for nonfiction authors is bleak. Sales are down 8.4% year over year. Based on my recent experience with many authors pitching publishers, it’s harder than ever to get a book contract; even great book ideas are seeing rejections or meager advances.

Of course, the real objective isn’t to get a deal, it’s to spread an idea.

If you’re planning a book in 2026, here’s the formula to keep in mind:

Inspiration > Insight > Information

Information is a commodity

There’s used to be a market for books that compiled information. These included books that would be considered references, how-to books, and comprehensive overviews of a given topic.

Experts love to write books like this. “I know so much about the topic,” they reason, “I can write the definitive book on it.”

Those books are now obsolete. If you want to know all about a topic now, you just ask ChatGPT (or if you’re old fashioned, Google it).

Every book that is a compilation of knowledge:

• Becomes obsolete and incomplete before it’s published, because new information is perpetually arriving. (Would you trust a book on cancer treatment or political strategy written in 2024?)
• Cannot possibly be as comprehensive as an online query that has access to every piece of information ever posted.
• Is limited to text and graphics, while many topics (especially how-to topics) are more effectively explained with video.
• Is static, as compared to an online query that’s interactive and personalized.

Insight is insufficient

Based on their experience, experts have the perspective to see what no one else can. They have insights.

Many of the best nonfiction books of the last thirty years were based on insights. Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma showed how cheap, imperfect products could upend and disrupt markets. James Clear’s Atomic Habits revealed how only a system of reinforcement could create personal change.

But you have to ask yourself this: Can you explain your insight briefly and powerfully, creating an “aha” moment in the reader?

If you can’t, your idea isn’t likely to catch on.

And if you can, then most of your audience may be satisfied with a blog post, a Substack, or a short video.

Insights are hard to create, but easy to consume. This means there are thousands of them competing for our attention at any moment. Short-attention-span consumers, conditioned by repeated dopamine hits on their endless social media feeds, just go from insight to insight. “Ah, that’s pretty interesting,” they say. The read or consume, like, share, and move on.

That might get you your 15 minutes of fame, but it’s not going to get people to buy a book and read it.

Inspire or go home

People who consume information get answers. Then they’re done.

People who consume insights think differently. But they don’t need a book for that.

But people who are inspired develop a hunger for more. They want to change. They want to be better. They want to spread the word.

They become part of a movement.

Books that inspire become touchstones. They’re shared.

Mel Robbins’ breakthough The Let Them Theory transforms how people think of their lives. Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup changed how everyone thought of entrepreneurship. Cory Doctorow’s Enshittification not only reveals how big tech is ruining everything, but charges people up to do something about it.

Inspirational books don’t obsolesce quickly, because they’re based on emotions, not just facts — and emotions persist.

Inspirational books work at book-length because once we are inspired, we want to consume every possible detail about how to understand and act on our inspiration.

Inspirational books sell because their word-of-mouth is limitless.

They support speaking and consulting and writing careers. They persist. They matter.

So . . .

If you’re writing to inform or share an insight, good luck. You may even make an impact. But it will become more and more challenging.

If you can add some inspiration, you’re far more likely to succeed.

What part of your idea inspires people? That’s the part to work on. It may be what makes all the difference in your book’s success.