From AI-assisted editing to the surge in digital subscription services, the publishing world is being slowly reshaped by digital publishing innovation.
The industry in 2025 is almost unrecognisable from that just a decade ago – traditional gatekeepers in publishing are kept on their toes, while authors, readers and publishers navigate a terrain defined by automated tools, shifting power dynamics and mounting legal and ethical concerns.
The current global eBook market is increasingly driven by a preference for convenient and accessible digital content. With many book publishers now opting to publish digital-first, eBooks are a cost-effective way to produce a more diverse selection of content to wider audiences.
While print books remain popular, eBooks continue to thrive, with the market revenue in the UK projected to reach £607.62m ($777.92m) in 2025 with an estimated CAGR of 0.38% over the next 4 years – Statista.
While the market for eBooks is forecast to continue growing, the rate of growth will be slower than in previous years, such as 2023, whereby the total CAGR was 1.27% – Statista.
Audiobooks are currently a hot topic within digital publishing due to their increasing popularity, with the audiobook market projected to reach £307.54m ($393.74m) in 2025 with a forecasted CAGR of 7.31% by 2029 – Statista.
In response to current crisis in reading for pleasure among UK under 18s, ministers have been urged to add audiobooks to England’s new school curriculum. Recent surveys show that for the first time, children are enjoying audiobooks more than reading print or eBooks, with more than 40% of 8 to 18-year-olds now listening to audio content in their spare time – The Telegraph.
To cater to the increase in self-publishing, Spotify Audiobooks has launched an initiative for independent authors and publishers to submit short-form stories for audiobook creation – a fantastic way for the audiobook industry to become more diverse.
AI and copyright law remains controversial in 2025. While the UK and EU have begun drafting legislation aimed at clarifying ownership of AI-assisted work, enforcement remains difficult, fueling tension within the industry. Whether creators, platforms or AI developers own AI-generated content is hotly contested.
Moreover, there is an increasing number of lawsuits being filed against tech companies for training their Large Language Models on copyrighted texts without consent. In 2025, a federal judge ruled The New York Times and other newspapers can proceed with a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for using their articles to train AI chatbots.
Currently OpenAI, Stability AI, Meta and Google are facing the most prominent legal challenges, primarily concerning copyright infringement and the use of copyrighted materials to train their Generative AI models.
The use of AI-powered editing tools is now widespread, generating much debate. Many worry that the use of tools such as Grammarly and ProWritingAid risk undermining human creativity and flattening the authorial voice.
Despite their speed, AI tools can ignore context, misinterpret nuance and bungle grammar rules. In 2023, CNET started quietly publishing financial advice articles written and edited by AI. An outcry ensued – not least because these articles proved to be full of errors.
With the impending enforcement of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) in June 2025, AI-generated alt-text is now widespread, with tools that combine image recognition and language processing to create descriptions that make visual content more accessible.
However, the technology is far from perfect, and many critics argue that AI-generated alt-text can be overly literal or vague. It can also miss the emotional context or nuance of an image. Disability advocates warn against an over-reliance on AI tools as poor or inaccurate alt-text can be just as exclusionary as having no alt-text at all.
Easypress has been extensively testing a selection of AI-generated alt-text tools currently available and although they are far from perfect, the alt-text being generated is improving – albeit from a laughably low baseline.
While AI-generated translations and text-to-speech narrations are still not currently perfect, they do have the ability to create pathways for more diverse and comprehensive range of digital books.
Through breaking language barriers and enabling global audiences to access a wider range of diverse literary voices, the industry has the ability become more accessible for all readers in the future.
Since the London Book Fair in March 2025, Easypress has been testing the ElevenLabs text-to-speech platform. It's clear the technology has made impressive strides, particularly over the past 12 months.
Extended reality (XR) is the collective term used to describe immersive technologies such as augmented, virtual and mixed reality. For readers, XR technology could offer new ways for authors to involve readers in their stories. However in an increasingly digitised world, questions remain as to whether readers really want, or need, more screen time.
As always, there are many challenges to overcome before XR books can become widely available for use, such as cost, accessibility and the need for legal guidelines and regulations. But the current progression of the technology means that readers could see XR books become more popular in years to come, especially in the children's book sector.
The ease and speed of modern technology has nurtured a rise in the instant gratification culture of on-demand content – eBooks and Audiobooks are no exception. With longstanding market leaders such as Kindle Unlimited, Kobo Plus, Audible and Scribd offering Readers huge varieties delivered straight to their devices, traditional trips to bookshops are becoming less desirable.
Yet with the ever-growing need for digital books, companies are being put under pressure to diversify the content that is available. In 2025 for example, ProQuest eBooks – now the world’s largest scholarly eBook subscription service – has moved away from traditional models of reading subscription services to target more specific areas of the market.
Another recent emerging trend by book subscription services is companies deciding to not just to sell books, but to also publish their own. For example in January 2025, FairyLoot announced a collaboration with Transworld, a division of Penguin Random House – The Guardian.
Digital publishing is not immune to international trade policies. Donald Trump's newly imposed tariffs on UK goods are raising concerns about their potential ripple effects. While the tariffs are currently unlikely to have a direct affect on digital products like eBooks, the US has urged the UK to reconsider their Digital Services Tax (DST), keeping the regulatory environment uncertain.
Nonetheless, the tariffs primarily target physical goods, so the increasing cost of printing and shipping could make eBooks more appealing to financially cautious readers, driving higher sales.
As seen in other global industries, there is a growing need for publishers to produce more with the same, or less, resources. Increasing supply chain and production costs are continuing to narrow profit margins, forcing many publishers towards producing digital-first content.
The need to increase publishing productivity is also fuelling a demand for largely automated print and digital production systems. Many in the industry desiring no-touch solutions, where possible, for certain types of trade fiction books.
With authors increasingly charting their own paths to publication, recent years have been branded the 'golden age' of self-publishing.
In 2025, self-publishing has become more accessible than ever with a rise in platforms helping indie authors reach readers directly. While services like Kindle Direct Publishing offer additional editorial and design services, others – like Substack and Ream – focus purely on distribution and monetisation.
Whilst bypassing traditional publishing houses can offer more creative control, success often relies on an author’s ability to market themselves. Moreover, the burden of quality control can fall directly on the author as it is up to them to select appropriate editors, cover designers and marketers.
The pandemic-triggered surge of online book communities and social media reading trends has undoubtably shaped the publishing industry and continues to do so in 2025.
The impact of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram remain influential on marketing and book sales, following a 41.3% rise in sales of science fiction and fantasy books in 2024 – genres strongly impacted by their popularity within the #booktok community – The Guardian.
As of 2025, #booktok has accumulated 370 billion views, with over 52 million users jumping on board – skyrocketing bestsellers, reviving backlist titles and informing reading habits worldwide – Forbes.
From the impending enforcement of the European Accessibility Act to the current boom in audiobook popularity, digital publishing remains a hot topic in global and local industry news. However, despite the advancements and challenges ahead, the industry continues to adapt and thrive in 2025 – and shows no signs of slowing down.
Easypress is a publishing production software and services company based in the UK, delivering award-winning technology globally for over 20 years.
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