I used the public library to get a lot of books that I'd never want to waste my money on. You can call it "market research."
Verdict: there just isn't a market for serious fiction like there was 70 years ago, say. J.D. Salinger considered himself a failure until he finally got a story in The New Yorker. How many writers dream of that nowadays?
My impression is that a good novel today being turned into a series or screenplay is what huge scale novel success used to be. Huge scale success with just a book is very rare, though there are some writers who find a niche audience.
The thing I decry is the worthless idle attention suck of “social” media. That competes with all forms of quality art and content. Instead of watching good movies or listening to music or reading a book people are scrolling TikTok, Xhitter, Instagram, etc.
Verdict: there just isn't a market for serious fiction like there was 70 years ago, say. J.D. Salinger considered himself a failure until he finally got a story in The New Yorker. How many writers dream of that nowadays?
Then there's Esquire, of course : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376430.Esquire_s_Big_Boo...
The urges that led people to read fiction then are now directed to TV, movies, and serials. We could decry it, but that's how it is.