THE SOURCE now available

The Source by Michael Bertolini is now available from the fine retailers (click the link on the right) or directly from the author. Pick up your copy today!

The Source

Bertolini, Michael J

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Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions; few are in book clubs

By William Bishop for the Pew Research Center

Digital books have grown in popularity over the past decade, but more Americans still read books in print than in digital formats.

Overall, 75% of U.S. adults say they have read all or part of at least one book in the past 12 months, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2025. While book reading is widespread, the survey also shows that participation in book clubs is much less common.

Print books remain on top

Print books still dominate in the U.S., but use of e-books and audiobooks has grown over the past decade

Print continues to be the only book format used by a majority of Americans. Roughly two-thirds of adults say they have read a physical book in the past 12 months, according to our October survey.

Much smaller shares say they have read an e-book or listened to an audiobook in the past year.

How book reading habits have changed over time

The overall share of Americans who have read a book in the past year has remained fairly stable since we first asked this question in 2011.

But there have been some changes in how Americans read books. The share of adults who have read a print book in the past 12 months has declined from 72% in 2011 to 64% in October 2025.

Digital and audiobooks, by comparison, have become more widely used. About three-in-ten adults (31%) now report reading an e-book in the past year, up from 17% in 2011. Audiobooks have seen similar growth, with use of this format more than doubling in the same period.

But these changes have slowed in recent years. There has been little change in the overall share of Americans who read books – or in the formats they use – since we last asked these questions in 2021.

How book reading differs across demographic groups

Majorities of Americans across demographic groups say they’ve read a book in the past 12 months, according to our October survey. Still, there are some differences both in overall reading habits and in the formats Americans use:

College graduates are more likely than non-college grads to have read a book in the past year. Around nine-in-ten adults with a bachelor’s degree (88%) say they’ve read a book in the past 12 months. This drops to 78% among those with some college experience and 60% among those with a high school education or less. This pattern holds across all formats of book-reading.

Americans under 50 are more likely than older adults to read e-books and audiobooks. For example, 41% of adults under 30 say they’ve read an e-book in the past 12 months. By comparison, a third or fewer of those from older age groups say this.

White Americans are most likely to read print books, while Asian Americans stand out in their use of e-books. About two-thirds of White adults say they’ve read a print book in the past year, compared with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans. When it comes to e-books, 42% of Asian Americans say they’ve read one in the past year, compared with around three-in-ten White, Hispanic and Black adults.

Women are more likely than men to say they’ve read a book in the past 12 months. This pattern extends to print and e-books.

How many books do Americans read?

While most Americans have read at least one book in the past year, how many they read varies widely. As of October 2025:

38% of U.S. adults say they read one to five books in the past year

13% read six to 10

10% read 11 to 20

14% read more than 20

And 25% of Americans say they read none.

Few Americans are members of a book club

Book clubs are not a common activity for most Americans, according to the recent survey. Only 7% of adults say they have participated in a book club in the past 12 months, according to our October survey.

Women are more likely than men to say they have done so (10% vs. 5%).

Draft2Digital... and other changes

 Draft2Digital just announced pretty harsh and limiting new practices. They will be charging a one time $20 new account fee and a $12 annual operating fee if you don't have at least $100 in sales in a 12 month period (after D2D takes their percentage, of course). This will make it difficult for indie publishers and self publishers to get into the business side of writing, and will negativity impact publishers that use them for some of their distribution: Mpresentspublishing only does about $3/month in digital sales after paying authors and printers so, in the near future, we'll be pulling out of Draft2Digital.  This will mean a change in store availability and we apologize for any inconvenience; but we can't, in good conscience, support a company that has taken such a negative stance toward the authors that look to them. Novels have already moved in an effort to make them more physically available, so this mostly applies to digital sales.

At the same time, Barnes & Noble is placing a minimum price on books in an attempt to stem the massive flood of AI generated books that sell cheaply in order to be more profitable. While I think this is the wrong way to go about things, I can appreciate sellers doing everything in their power to stem the bleeding caused by unwanted AI content.

Ingram Spark, who handles most of our print distribution and will be taking over our ebook distribution, has been dropping their fees (they used to charge a lot for changes, but that, at the very least, is a thing of the past). There are other fees, such as converting print books to ebooks and vice-versa, that most authors won't ever encounter (they don't charge to set up an account, for example), and those fees aren't new. A side benefit to moving everything to IS, M Presents products are available on Amazon where most people shop (even though it costs less to buy directly from the publisher, but I digress)!

Aside from banning authors for reasons that don't make a lot of sense, Amazon KDP isn't charging any new fees.

If anything changes, this post will be updated.

Available for Pre-order!

 The Source by Michael Bertolini, with commentary by Alan Dark, is available for PRE-ORDER right now from Smashwords, link below. It is a Horror Thriller with some clear nods to H.P. Lovecraft and the wider Cthulhu Mythos while maintaining its own feel. Be sure to check it out, the E-Book will be available on July 1st, 2026 while the Print book will be available for purchase July 4th, 2026. 

Also, if you pre-order the e-book RIGHT NOW from Smashwords the price is only $2.99, but if you wait, the price will increase to $3.99 in June and $4.99 once it releases in July.

👉  Pre-Order THE SOURCE on Smashwords 👈

M.O.T.H.E.R. now available through Ingram Spark

 Great News! M.O.T.H.E.R. is the first M Presents Publishing book available through Ingram Spark book distribution. This means that it will be easier to find print books of this title online and, if you choose to see it on shelves, your local bookstore will be easily able to order copies. It is a longer process on my end to get the book ready this way but I hope this expanded distribution will be beneficial to all M Presents authors!

You can order your own print copy directly from Ingram Spark at the link I've included.

M.O.T.H.E.R.

Bertolini, Michael

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HUGE VICTORY for libraries!

 In recent months the Trump administration has tried to dismantle the network of libraries in the United States of America. A temporary injunction had been issued to stop the administration while a judge looked over the case. The injunction has since become permanent. I'm posting the Rhode Island judge's summary below.

Happy Halloween

 As a horror publisher, Halloween is a party at M Presents. If you haven't already picked up a copy, Liminal Madness was just released last month. Don't forget about Madness by Firelight, Dead of Winter, Descent Into Madness, Enter Madness, or any of the other M Presents titles. If you're looking for a last-minute TTRP game to play, M Presents also has several titles for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game by Chaosium and the recently released SCP:0 game offers players a chance to fight and capture horrors.

I also recently ran a pair of victims volunteers through the modern Call of Cthulhu scenario: Undertow. I've linked the video below. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel (If the video doesn't play, you MAY have to go directly to YouTube to view it).

Baker & Taylor is closing its doors!

 After nearly 200 years, the distribution giant Baker & Taylor is closing its doors. B&T was almost the exclusive distributor of books to libraries, but that exclusivity has been in doubt over the past several years as distributors such as Hoopla, Overdrive, and Palace (to name a few) have pushed into the space with the rise of digital book lending. 

If any library has used B&T to order a book or two from M Presents, I thank you and I thank B&T for handling that distribution. Now, aside from digital distribution, getting into libraries will not be as easy. If you're interested in helping get M Presents titles at your local library, you might be able to help! First, ask if the library can carry one (or all) of our books. Like I said, libraries have options and if there is a demand they will be open to carrying the title. Also, and this comes with a financial burden to you, most libraries accept donations of books on their shelves (provided they have the space) but I recommend contacting whoever is responsible for acquisitions at your local library before making any sort of donation. Finally, and this will be harder to accomplish but it still might help, let me know who to reach out to and I'll do what I can to get in. 

With all of that in mind, for anyone interested, I'll be offering a discounted rate for print books bought with the intention of donating them to libraries if the library is unable to acquire the book themself. Simply send me the address that the book(s) need to be shipped to (a name would be appreciated) to mpresents.publishing@gmail.com. I'll calculate the shipping cost and let you know how much it'll be (it should equate to roughly 30% off, depending on the book and shipping costs). Please note that this discount only applies if I ship directly to a library; personal shipments direct-to-consumers will still be discounted, but not as much, as the cost of distribution is no longer a factor.

Draft2Digital Announces Minimum Payment

 Draft2Digital is implementing minimum payment thresholds for any payment methods that previously had no minimum. This change will take effect on November 1, 2025. This will affect the authors published by M PRESENTS PUBLISHING as the average per sale royalties are under $1 meaning some authors will not be paid unless upwards of 20 units sell.

With that in mind, going forward, I will be leaving it up to individual authors if they want to continue to be paid directly from Draft2Digital or if they'd like a payment directly from me as I do when processing Amazon payments.

This may affect how quickly I can get payments out as I have to wait for payments to come to me and then I can disburse them as appropriate (and, of course, I'll still be bound by the minimum payment threshold). In coming days I will be reaching out to authors, but publications in the future won't automatically be set up so Draft2Digital handles payments.

While this is unfortunate and, as a sole proprietor, will only make things more difficult, all M PRESENTS PUBLISHING authors can rest assured that I will find a way for you all to be appropriately paid.

On a completely unrelated note, if anyone is interested in a per diem job that pays next to nothing but is responsible for organizing and distributing funds, send me an email at mpresents.publishing@gmail.com

All Roads Point South is officially on Electrum Tier

 "All Roads Point South" is a couple of years old at this point and has been officially awarded the 'Electrum' rank at DriveThruRPG.  Thanks to everyone who bought the game and those who'll buy it next.

Appearance

 I'm going to be on a panel with a few members of the HWA-NE this Saturday (September 27) from 1-4 at the Barnes & Noble in Meriden Connecticut. Stop by, hear what us horror writers think about the genre in general, and buy some of our awesome books.  I hope to see everyone there!

Barnes & Noble Meriden 

533 S Broad St, Meriden, Connecticut 06450

LIMINAL MADNESS available!

 The next anthology in the Enter Madness series is available! As of right now, you can order the ebook version or preorder from Barnes & Noble; the link is in the menu to the left.

On October 5th, you will be able to buy the paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Alan Dark reducing ebook prices

 To better match the current market, author Alan Dark will be lowering the ebook prices for Shiny, Happy, Dark and Back and Forth and Back. While I commend Alan on his decision, especially since that is the average price-point for the genre he writes in, there is no one-size-fits-all price structure.

Shiny Happy Dark on Amazon

Back and Forth and Back on Amazon

Smashwords Summer Sale

 Through July, many M Presents Publishing books are on sale. Just go to smashwords.com, you can search M Presents, Michael Bertolini, or Alan Dark to see what's available. Titles, such as the entirety of the Enter Madness anthology series, is on sale.

Liminal Madness Progress

 LIMINAL MADNESS IS PROCEEDING AS PLANNED

I finished choosing the stories to be published in Liminal Madness. Accepted authors have been contacted and the Author page on this website is slowly being updated. As expected, the number of stories warrants the release of a second anthology. That second anthology, tentatively titled 'Consuming Madness', looks to be roughly the same length and (while still liminal) leans more toward fear and paranoia.

I confess that I'm excited by all of the stories, from those that are liminal in the popular sense, to liminal in the traditional sense, to stories of fear. To the point that I'm excited to share these stories as soon as possible. With that in mind, I intend to release both books as soon as possible. The plan is to release the digital version of both before Halloween (with 'Liminal Madness' released first) and, at least, 'Liminal Madness available as a physical book before the greatest holiday in horror circles. 

With that in mind, what do the visitors to this website (and other M Presents social media platforms) think about the title of the second anthology? Can you suggest a better title? While I prefer the title contains the word Madness, that's not necessary if a better title can be created. Comment on this post and let me know if you have a better title idea, and I'll credit whoever comes up with a great title with an "associated editor" published in the finished book!

Stay tuned for future updates!

SCP: 0 on Kickstarter!

 

Back SCP:0 On Kickstarter!

Dark Descent 2025

 My very short story "The Cold One" will be appearing in Dark Holme Publishing's Dark Descent 2025 Anthology.

Darkholmepublishing.uk

Trump Administration’s Interference in Artistic and Literary Expression Is Anti-American and Anti-Democratic

(Statement from The Author's Guild)

"We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth,” said President Kennedy in 1963.

“A society that recognizes the enduring significance of the arts and the humanities to the quality and to the future of our civilization will set high value also on diversity and on independence of initiative,” said President Regan in 1981.

All true democracies place a high value on freedom of expression in the arts and humanities, as have all U.S. presidential administrations until now. The quality of a democracy can be judged by the quality of its arts. Authoritarian regimes suppress and control artistic expression to generate propaganda instead as a means of controlling thought and dissent.

The Trump administration is undoing 250 years of freedom of expression in the arts and humanities, freedom from government using the arts for propaganda. It is doing it by fiat, through a series of unconstitutional executive orders usurping congressional powers, deportations, bullying, threats of criminal action against journalists who report truth, defunding of institutions that permit free speech, and now cancelling congressionally-funded programs in the arts and sciences.

In his first 100 days, the president repeatedly challenged one of the most sacred principles of democracy: that people must be able to express themselves freely, including and especially by challenging the government, and that writing and the arts are a primary means of doing so. His administration’s actions fly in the face of our Constitution and Bill of Rights; rather than make America great, these actions undermine American democracy. As all dictators know, to convince the people to adopt narratives that support your power, they have to silence those who provide narratives that shed light on the truth—the authors and artists.

As one of his first acts in office, the president declared by executive orders that it was illegal for any government entity or anyone who receives any benefits from the government to express certain ideas and viewpoints, namely diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender apart from sex. Agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), were instructed to ban certain words and terms such as diversity, equity, environmental justice, gender, gay, women, and advocacy (to absurd results) and any programs that touched on the banned concepts. The first administration to unilaterally change the name of an international body of water, it went so far as to ban an Associated Press reporter from the White House after the AP, an international news agency, decided not to adopt the name “Gulf of America.”

Attempts like these to control speech are clearcut viewpoint discrimination, prohibited under the First Amendment.

Then, in the first weeks of his administration, the president announced that he was taking control of the Kennedy Center and appointing himself as chair to make its programming align with his administration’s views. More recently, the administration announced that it would oversee programming at the Smithsonian Institution and its 21 museums, prohibiting any DEI-related programs and ensuring that all programs align with its current views. The Smithsonian, like the Kennedy Center, is not wholly government-owned but a private-public partnership, and it is one of the most distinguished institutions in the world in large part because Congress and every administration until now has recognized its independence from politics and political influence.

Now the administration is trying to destroy the U.S.’s only cultural agencies, the NEA and the NEH, and their grant programs in the arts and humanities—having already mostly dismantled the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The NEA and NEH were created by Congress in 1965 with the understanding set forth in their authorizing legislation that:

Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.

In 1981, President Reagan explained the role of the NEA and NEH thus: “Fostering arts and scholarship, not stifling it, not filtering it, has been the goal of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities … The Endowments … account for only 10 percent of the donations to art and scholarship. Nonetheless, they have served an important role in catalyzing additional private support, assisting excellence in arts and letters, and helping to assure the availability of art and scholarship.”

Trump’s DOGE team, apparently lacking any understanding of the benefits that NEA and NEH bring to so many people, took it upon themselves to destroy 60-year legacies of the U.S.’s only cultural organizations—without the authority to do so—by cutting their congressionally-mandated programs and staff and called for the agencies’ total elimination in the next congressional budget. In early April, DOGE cancelled hundreds of NEH grants that the government had previously committed to and on which recipients relied, having incurred numerous expenses and, in the case of individual grantees, taken leaves from other work, as required. Last week, as expected, the administration also cancelled most NEA grants. Its only basis for all of the terminations was that the grants didn’t align with its “priorities.” The NEH termination letters failed to alert recipients as to what its new priorities are (a later statement said that the funds would go to statues for a National Garden of American Heroes, despite the fact that sculpture is not within the NEH’s mandate). The new priorities described in the NEA termination letters are completely unrelated to the arts.  

Congress created the NEA and NEH grant programs to bring arts and learning to people around the country as well as to promote philanthropy in the arts by requiring that grants be privately matched. Only Congress has the power to defund these agencies, which it refused to do all four years of Trump’s first administration despite his requests. Now, having practically achieved the same result without Congress’ input, the administration is diverting the funds saved by eliminating thousands of low-cost, local humanities education and arts programs around the country—selected for the high value they bring to communities—to a single garden of heroes, which few Americans will likely ever be able to visit.

The,, last night, in another first, Trump attacked the most sacred of our nonpartisan institutions of learning and creativity by firing the highly respected Librarian of Congress, Dr, Hayden, for political reasons—for supporting the Library of Congress’ mission to serve all members of Congress and all Americans by preserving, fostering, and making accessible American creativity in all its diversity. Her only alleged crimes are being a Democrat and not agreeing to ban books that the far right disagreed with. No other president in history has interfered with the mission of Congress’ library; Trump’s doing so is a shocking affront to intellectual and creative freedom, democratic values, and the integrity of our nonpartisan national institutions.

Let’s be very clear: The Trump administration’s attack on free expression and the arts is a backward step for democracy and culture in the U.S. And lest some are impervious to the fate of democracy and culture, know that undermining our arts will also negatively impact our economy—a not insignificant part of which is driven by the creative sector. Thanks to the support for the arts in this country, we have become the world’s leading creator and supplier of creative arts, exporting our books, films, television programming, games, and music throughout the world. The U.S. creative sector contributed more than $2 trillion to U.S. GDP and employed 11.6 million workers in 2023 alone. Government support for the arts has incubated much of that creativity.

If you would like to help fight back, here is what you can do:

• Write your Congressional representatives. It is important that they hear your concerns and push back on the executive branch’s usurpation of their power.
• Write op eds.
• Buy books and attend arts programs.
• Donate to your favorite literary and arts organizations.
• Join a lawsuit—stay tuned.

SCP:0

 Coming soon on Kictstarter is my first full-fledged RolePlaying Game, SCP:0. I'm not going to post too many details just yet, just know that it should start before the end of the month. The game utilizes the Year:0 engine (hence the name) and fits snuggly in the horror genre. Aside from the core rule book, backers can pick up game modules.

Here's a sort of preview of the prices and what's included:

$5 Thank You includes a massive “thanks” on our website and the book page on DriveThruRPG 

$10 Digital PDF delivered via DriveThruRPG includes PDF of the core rulebook 

$15 Digital Bundle delivered via DriveThruRPG includes PDF Core Book and PDF of three scenarios

$25 Physical Core Rulebook delivered via DriveThruRPG

$35 Physical Bundle delivered via DriveThruRPG includes Physical Core Rulebook and Physical scenarios 

I'm still working on all of the details and I'm working on a video to include both on the Kickstarter page and on YouTube so nothing is final. But I'll be sure to post something here as soon as I can.

Book deals

 I don't want to go into too many details but I'm working to negotiate a couple of book details. I'm not going to say any details in the event one or both of these fall thru, but take my word that they are both prospectively exciting. Oh, and I have some great news coming up! Nothing to do with politics (I really hope) but...something.