Why Reading Literature Is More Beneficial Than Self-Help Books
- Zeineb Dhaouadi
- 36 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Zeineb Dhaouadi
Over the last few decades, maybe even century, the publishing industry has noticed a boom in demand over the self-help genre. According to “The Business Research Company”
“The self-improvement products and services market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $64.48 billion in 2025 to $70.22 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.9%,” and it is estimated to grow up to 93.75 billion dollars by 2030.
On the other hand according to the “The Fiction Books Market Reports 2026",
fiction books “will grow from $11.07 billion in 2025 to $11.3 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1%.”
If you compare the numbers, the difference between both genres is set to surpass 50 billion dollars. Financially speaking, the self-help market is thriving more than ever and has officially overtaken the fiction genre. So what is this phenomenon that seems to dominate the book trade.
By definition the self-help genre is:
" literature designed to guide individuals in solving personal challenges or achieving personal growth. These books provide actionable advice, inspiring readers to take charge of their lives, whether by improving their mental health, developing better habits, or fostering stronger relationships. _____( Kathi Sohn)
It is a sort of manual on how to improve your confidence, how to get over grief, how to lose weight, how to get over your divorce, the list really goes on. It’s versatile in advice and specialities. There are of course the high-brow how-to books authored by people at the top of their fields, or of course, life-coaches and wellness gurus preaching to the choir. May I add that the culture of self-help branched off printed and e-books and evolved into podcasts and social-media influencers. You have human traffickers teaching the young’uns the ways of the alpha male, or depressed middle aged women guiding you through human servitude and submission in exchange of a Birkin or a Fendi. It goes without saying that self-help has a chokehold on its consumers, but what’s so special about it?
In my humble opinion the rise of popularity may be due to the wide-spread of individualism and the appeal of easy of solutions. It’s no secret that communities are scattering, individuals are becoming more reclusive, and the culture of self-reliance is all the more prevalent. For the most part of human existence, life was built around helping one another. However, with the “progress” of civilisation, the fear of the other became reality, and the need to survive on your own is normalized. It only makes sense that one would build themselves up using an easy to follow guide to climb the corporate ladder of a big four and become its CEO even if you’re a middle class child who studied in public school and whose parents do not belong to a secret new world order society. sure!
When you are going through the lowest point of your life, you’ll need an easy fix, I mean everything is going in shambles and along comes the holy grail to save you. In only five steps will you get over years of repression and trauma or The Shamans’ philosophy of wasting your money. So you buy it and you tell your friends about it, maybe post an instagram story and pretend that you’re about to go through a life changing experience, only to reread the first few few pages then use it as a door blocker.
Read literature. Here’s the truth, it won’t fix your problems, it won’t help you forget the person who broke your heart or get over your grief, but that’s the point. Literature makes you feel seen. You feel the pangs of exile and displacement, read Gibran Khalil Gibran; you feel the crippling weight of losing the ones you love the most, read Victor Hugo; you feel lost and trapped in your thoughts, read Virginia Woolf; you want to understand human nature read Fyodor Dostoevsky. Literature has a way of speaking things you feel but cannot form, it allows you to understand the other in ways that no manual can. You think you are the only person who felt a specific feeling but William Shakespeare has already written about it. You feel like your body is controlled by the government and your rights as a woman are compromised, but Margaret Atwood warned us 41 years ago. That insight you’re seeking can seldom be found in a how-to book. Open your horizons to an art form that explores the multitude of humanity and the world.
My opinion may be biased, but I urge you to give literature a chance. The solutions you desperately need will neither be given to you by a manual nor a poem. However, literature has a way of getting you closer to your answers. Above all else, self-help compares nothing to a friend or a dear one who’s willing to listen, reproach, and offer a helping hand. So accept the assistance instead of having to prove to the world that you’re capable of everything; no one’ll notice and you’ll end up exhausted.
