Why motivational books continue to see market demand

He adds: “I became lethargic and dull; just doing the minimum at work, skipping my fitness regime and basically staying indoors during my downtime, doomscrolling almost all the time.”

Then, one day, he happened to visit a bookstore near his workplace while waiting for an acquaintance. When he chanced upon James Clear’s 2018 book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, the experience proved to be “quite life-changing”.

“I found the blurb on the book encouraging – Tiny Changes Remarkable Results – and decided to buy it,” recalls Sundaresh. “The book has helped me enormously and I find myself referring to it frequently so that I don’t slip back to my old lethargic ways.”

The software professional is not the only one to swear by the positive effect of motivational books.

Chennai-based Karthik Ramachandran, 56, a self-confessed avid reader of self-help books, claims that reading motivational and self-help books with a strong empirical bent is akin to ‘bibliotherapy’, which he believes “seems to work as well as talk therapy” for him.

Help in demand

It’s probably readers like him who have pushed motivational books to its current “commercial strength” in the Indian market. According to publishers and bookstore owners The Federal spoke to, nonfiction, the genre which includes motivational and self-help books, contributes to a larger share in sales than fiction.

“There are many new titles being published, ensuring that the popularity of this genre continues to remain strong,” says Subodh Sankar, founder of Bengaluru-based independent bookstore Atta Galatta. According to him, most readers today are looking at a transactional relationship with books. “For lack of better words, I would say that readers are trying to see what they can get out of books,” says Sankar. “I think living in stressful times is definitely the reason for this.”

Zorba Books, a self-publishing firm based in Gurugram, claims to have worked with over 2000 authors in all categories. According to Binod Bharti, sales head at Zorba Books, more than 500 titles have been published by them in the category of self-help and motivational books. “Studies suggest that reading appropriate books for mental stress only for 20 minutes daily can reduce stress by 68 per cent. Think of these books as your personal mentors, therapists and cheerleaders rolled into one,” Bharti claims.

Mayi Gowda, founder of Bengaluru’s iconic bookstore, Blossoms, too, talks of the popularity of self-help and motivational books.

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Those in the business also cite the ‘tremendous’ impact of social media and influencers in popularising this segment of books, which they claim has been more than in other segments. Millions of readers now encounter micro content daily through creators such as Gaur Gopal Das, Jay Shetty and BK Shivani, whose posts distil complex ideas about happiness, productivity and success into easily shareable quotes and short videos. For many, a self-help book is often the next step after discovering such content online.

How self-help books help

Which prompts the question: what exactly are readers hoping to find in these books?

Author and internet entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo, whose books include Do Epic Shit and Winning People Without Losing Yourself, cites two reasons why people read motivational books. First, it gives an illusion of worth. For a generation raised in an age of instant gratification, promises of quick solutions can be especially appealing. Second, there is a long-standing fascination with successful people, he says. Readers are drawn to the idea that understanding the habits and mindsets of high achievers might help them unlock similar success in their own lives.

According to him, Carol Dwek’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006) has been one of the most powerful books he has read so far. “It introduced me to the concept of fixed and growth mindsets, which frankly changed my life in multiple dimensions.”

Warikoo adds that his audience often tells him what he expects to hear; that they feel “inspired and motivated” by his writings. Many, according to him, surprisingly add that they will meet him once they are as successful as he is. He laughs at this, noting that it reflects a common tendency to measure oneself against others. True progress, he suggests, lies in comparison with one’s own past self rather than with someone else, an understanding he says he arrived at only later in life.

Ramachandran believes the genre of motivational books is split into two; books that are science-backed and those that are freewheeling notes of the author’s experiences or unsupported observations. “I have read David Burns’s Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (1980), which cites scientific studies and also Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret (2006) which is about our thoughts sending vibrations into the universe that affect what happens in our lives. Surprisingly, both books are popular. This goes to show that as wayward as some self-help guidance can be, the genre by itself also offers advice that is strikingly on the mark, even transformational.”

The genre has seen some changes over the years. Every era has generated a different version of self-realisation. In 1936, when Dale Carnegie wrote the immensely popular How to Win Friends and Influence People, the unemployment rate in the United States of America was reportedly at 16.9 per cent. The book was an instant success as readers were keen to follow a ‘formula’ for getting rich, which seemed easily replicable.

Over the past few decades, mental health has taken priority, say those in publishing. The Courage to be Disliked (Kishimi Ichiro and Koga Fumitake, 2013) sold 10 million copies worldwide, according to publisher figures. The immensely popular ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’ (Mark Manson, 2016) has remained firmly entrenched on the New York Times best-seller list. Cue in some of the titles published last year: The Anatomy of Anxiety (Ellen Vora), Mindfire: The Diary of an Anxious Twentysomething (Carrie Berk), and Cuckoo in the Vineyard (Deepi Megh Purohit), which is a book on bipolarity by a bipolar for non-bipolars.

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The popularity of motivational books has been striking enough for those working in the area of mental health to take note. Clinical hypnotherapist Rachit Saxena says motivational books are what they say they are. “They lead us down a path of awakening positive emotions. We are all one decision away from taking action towards a better life and sometimes inspiration acts as the force to do that.”

Reading such books has some effect on our brains, according to psychotherapist and author Meera Ravi, as they tap into neuroplasticity. “When you read stories of resilience or new ways of thinking, your brain starts building new connections. Reward and motivation circuits activate, giving you that dopamine-driven “I can do this” feeling. Over time, with repetition, those pathways get stronger. Even functions tied to depression, anxiety, or learning can shift, because the brain isn’t fixed. It rewires based on what you practice.”

When the spark fizzles out

However, finding motivation alone isn’t enough. Ravi stresses, “Motivation is the spark, not the fuel. It fades. Our brain’s motivation system responds to progress and reward, not just big feelings.” To sustain change, we need habit formation (small repeatable actions that run on autopilot), reframing (catching and rewriting old thought loops) and nervous system care (managing stress so our brain can stay in learning mode). “These turn fleeting motivation into actual wiring.”

This could perhaps be the reason why although many read the same motivational book, only some actually see a change in their mindsets.

“I have always believed that the mindset is perhaps the most important thing one needs to work on,” Warikoo says. “You can always get skills, build a network and so on. But working on the mindset is a solo journey that’s very lonely because you are working with your own thoughts. Most people, frankly, are scared of their thoughts. For the longest time, I was chasing what was the external world until around the age of 30-35, I started to realise that the bigger battle is within.”

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Ravi contextualises the theme’s popularity. “Reading about others overcoming depression, anxiety, or setbacks normalises struggle and shows that lifelong traits can change. That reduces shame and builds the belief that if their brain can rewire, maybe mine can too. The best books also give tools like emotional regulation, planning, reframing and when readers hit a wall, therapy starts to look like the logical next step, not a defeat.”

Yet the genre has its critics. Some argue that self-help books oversimplify problems that are often rooted in larger social, economic or psychological realities. The promise that anyone can transform their life through the right mindset can place undue responsibility on individuals while ignoring circumstances beyond their control. Others point to the industry's tendency to recycle familiar ideas. The advice may be useful, critics say, but it is rarely revolutionary.

When we pore endlessly over self-help titles, we are looking for something that is profound and infuse our life with new meaning, purpose and texture. While choosing books that do so, remember how Frank Kafka had described literature as the ‘axe for the frozen sea within us.’ Motivational books that break inner inertia, remove doubt and fear, and instil hope within for a better and happier existence can be life-affirming.