The Reading Renaissance: Let’s make reading cool again.

I just got back from two days at the London Book Fair.Publishers, authors, executives, agents. The whole industry in one room. I was expecting real debate about the future. What I found was something else.Two groups. Both, in their own way, giving up.The first: denial. One publisher looked me in the eyes and said “I hate AI” I’ve heard those exact words before. Ten years ago, when we started publica.la (yes, we’ll be 10 this year!) those same publishers used to tell me “I don’t believe in ebooks.” As if it were some kind of religion. As if not believing in something would stop it from existing.The second group: surrender. “It’s done for books” a top executive from one of the largest academic publishers in the world told me those exact words. I heard that more than once. Smart people. People I respect. Genuinely convinced the game is over.It was, to be honest, a little bit disappointing to me. Most executives in our industry are about to retire, and I can understand why it’s so hard to embrace this new complex and sometimes disencouraging reality.But the truth is I disagree with both groups. And I want to explain why, or at least try to propose a different approach:Yes, this might sound like wishful thinking. But I’ve come to believe that in moments like this one — real disruption, real confusion — hope isn’t naive. Hope is the only honest response. Not denial. Not surrender. Hope, backed by evidence.That’s what this text is about.We’ve Seen This Pattern BeforeNobody announced the wellness revolution. No manifesto. No launch event. It happened person by person, quietly, until suddenly it was everywhere.Look at alcohol. According to Gallup, the share of American adults who drink regularly hit an all-time low in 2025–54%, down from 62% just…