Publishing invented the phrase “the sky is falling!”
Amid ongoing warnings about the supposed decline of the book industry (publishing invented the phrase “the sky is falling!”), recent events in Germany have demonstrated the enduring appeal of literary culture.
(And isn’t it telling that we in publishing have to keep reminding ourselves how enduring it is).
The Leipzig Book Fair, one of Europe’s largest book fairs, set an attendance record in 2025, while lit.COLOGNE, Germany’s renowned literature festival, also celebrated its most successful edition to date.
Leipzig Book Fair
The 2025 event attracted a record-breaking 269,000 visitors across its four-day duration, including attendees of the Leipzig Reads festival and Manga-Comic-Con.
Compare the 230,000 that attended the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2024. No wonder Publishing Perspectives hasn’t mentioned the Leipzig footfall this year.
Leipzig of course was a combined event with the Leipzig Reads festival and Manga-Comic-Con, but bear in mind Frankfurt was split 50-50 between trade and public.
At Leipzig the German Publishers and Booksellers Association highlighted the challenges faced by small, independent publishers, calling for more predictable structural support instead of prize-based funding.
While book sales in Germany declined by 1.7% in 2024, overall turnover increased by 0.8% due to rising book prices – a situation that reflects broader economic pressures in the industry and should be troubling us far more than it seems to.
Put simply, we hide behind overall revenue figures even as actual sales drop, and often these overall revenue figures are not adjusted for inflation.
lit.COLOGNE: A Landmark Year for Literature
Running parallel to Leipzig in Germany was the 25th lit.COLOGNE, Germany’s premier literature festival, which reported record-breaking attendance in 2025. Over 118,000 visitors attended more than 200 events, with organisers describing it as “the most successful festival edition of all time.” With halls operating at 96% capacity and over 150 sell-out events, the festival demonstrated the high demand for live literary events.
The children’s programme, lit.kid.COLOGNE, attracted an impressive 30,000 attendees, setting a new record and affirming the importance of engaging young readers.
The next edition of lit.COLOGNE will take place from 10-22 March 2026.
Leipzig Book fair 2026 will run March 19-22.
Tis post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
