Restaurant spending per capitaUS self-published books per year
Americans eating out more, and Americans publishing more books about anything, both numbers climbing the same staircase. Somebody, somewhere, is at a restaurant working on a manuscript about how to start a restaurant. The system is closed.
US per-capita restaurant spending grew steadily through the 2010s as casual dining and delivery normalised eating prepared meals away from the kitchen. Self-published titles per year exploded over the same window, lifted by Amazon KDP, the gig-economy mindset, and a falling cost-of-publishing curve that put a book within most people's reach. Both reflect the same trend: more dollars spent and more time invested on things that used to be done at home, by yourself, for free. Cooking and writing both went pro for everyone.
Two domestic activities professionalised in the same window. The kitchen and the desk both got business cards.
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