Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?
SMRTR summary
Self-help book sales are collapsing, and AI appears to be the cause. Tim Ferriss's catalog of bestselling titles dropped 46% in 2025 and is on pace for a 57% decline in 2026 — nearly 80% below 2022 levels. Industry-wide, self-help units fell 26.3% in Q1 2026. Since chatbots can now instantly deliver personalized advice from thousands of books for free, the traditional "how-to" format may be permanently disrupted.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Hacker News.
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