Hugh Howey and The Data Guy have now done all their usual number crunching and published the latest report. What trends can we identify in 2017, based on their impressive (as always) work?

1. For traditionally published books, print is king.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

2. However, this reign is highly genre-dependent. In adult fiction, for example, nearly half sales are digital.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

3. Two years of Amazon discounts have let the publishing industry grow by 3,3%. But Amazon discounts have now ended. Expect a drop in 2017 in traditionally-published print titles.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

4. This is actually good news for Indies, who usually focus on adult fiction and ebook sales.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

5. Regardless, print vs digital is the wrong question. The right one is, online vs. brick & mortar. In other words, Amazon vs. everyone else.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

6. Indie publishing is now a $1.25 bn industry.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

7. Pricing matters: for Indies, the sweet spots are $0.99, $2.99, and $3.99.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

8. Kindle Unlimited is becoming a big player, with 14% of all 2016 ebook sales. Expect it to become even bigger in 2017, thus offering even more incentives to authors to go KDP Select.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

9. If one includes both traditionally-published and Indie titles, online is trumping brick & mortar. Expect this trend to continue in 2017.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

10. Indie-published romance is huge, already capturing the majority of sales.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

11. Sci-fi is getting there. However, if one examines the YA sci-fi subgenre on its own, Indies are already the majority.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

12. As for African-American fiction, it’s composed almost entirely by Indies.

Author Earnings Report, 2016-17 trends | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

These, then, are the hottest genres for Indies.

You can read the whole report on the Author Earnings website.