We hear it so often it’s easy to start believing it. People are reading less. Nobody is buying books. The publishing industry is doomed. Yet with a handful of exceptions the evidence – if we step outside the oh-so-twentieth-century notion that bookstores are the only barometer of interest in and revenue from books – is Read More …
The 31st Skopje International Book Fair drew to a close this week, and information about the event remains scarce, but hopes were high that visitor numbers would exceed the record 45,000 that attended the 2018 edition. This year the 8-day event, somewhat overshadowed by the Thessaloniki International Book Fair in Greece and the Turin International Read More …
When Jonas Tellander announced Storytel’s plan to moved from a fixed rate payout for publishers to a per-minute-consumed model there was understandable disquiet from publishers, many of whom believed the new model would see their revenue streams cut. And of course some did. Under the old model a one-hour podcast would earn as much for Read More …
Launched last month by LVH Group, a new mobile reading app has taken an unsuspecting world by surprise with a menu of high class erotica written “by women for women” and targeting a global audience. Lady Victoria Howard is a far cry from the pseudo-porn masquerading as erotica that can be found on many mainstream ebook Read More …
A press release from the Swedish Publishers Association this week reports that for the first time an analysis has been made of Swedish literature exports, and the value of SEK 340 million ($36 million) has been attributed to the sector. Fiction led the charge both in overall value and in the number of contracts. Swedish Read More …
If it’s 2019, it must be time for the bi-annual Bókmenntahátíð í Reykjavík which this year has a spring date for the first time. That will be April 24-27 for those who fancy a spring break in Iceland. Don’t worry if you flunked Icelandic at school. Bókmenntahátíð í Reykjavík is of course the Reykjavík International Read More …
The website, twitter and Facebook pages have yet to be updated, but the dates are out for the 9th incarnation of the Salento Book Fair in the Italian province of Lecce. The travelling exhibition will stop at Corigliano d’Otranto , Galatina , Galatone , Gallipoli, Nardò and Aradeo. Reports Teatri Online, Over a month of book presentations, Read More …
Breaking news via the International Publishers Association: Following the adoption of the Copyright Directive by the European Parliament plenary on 26 March, IPA President welcomed the result and congratulated European publishers for their work. Hugo Setzer, IPA President, said: The IPA welcomes the agreement found in the European Union for a Copyright Directive and would Read More …
With London and Paris in the rear mirror, European book fair groupies have their next fix coming up on April 1 when the Bologna Children’s Book Fair gets underway in Italy. A common feature at the world’s book fairs nowadays is Brazilian Publishers, an umbrella organization that looks after the best interests of, you guessed Read More …
The first survey of French audiobook users this year shows a significant increase in audiobook take-up compared to a year ago. According to the OpinionWay survey, conducted between 30 January 30 and 19 February,14% of French citizens aged 15 and over have listened to an audiobook while a further 7% intend to. Younger booklovers lead Read More …
We won’t know the full story for Storytel 2018 until April, but the Q4 results are out and include an overview of the year, and a clear picture is emerging of consistent and sustainable growth, driven by digital. As I’ll explore in a follow-up report on the Swedish book market, what we are seeing in Read More …
We’re told so many times that books are dead, publishing is doomed and authors need to find new career paths, that it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the reality. That books and reading are more popular than ever. It’s just that the traditional sales channels and publishing superstar names are competing in an increasingly Read More …
There’s not much to go on here, but also no real surprise. Amazon claimed 50% of online book sales in France in 2018, according to a report by Kantor World Panel. According to the report Amazon was by far the largest online retailer in the country, and its biggest showing was in the books sector, Read More …
Cupido is a Norwegian site dedicated to all things sensual, and now that includes podcasts. This month Cupido is launching what apparently translates as Cupido Handsfree – a great double-entendre if accurate. To mark the event Cupido tells us that 4,500 of Storytel’s 100,000 titles are categorized as “sensual”, referencing a report in the left-wing Norwegian Read More …
India’s Kolkata International Book Fair wound up earlier this week and the numbers are in: 2.3 million visitors spent 230 million rupees (US$ 3.2 million) on books in twelve days. Given the price of books in India the volume must have been huge. This just weeks after 900,000 turned out to the New Delhi World Book Read More …
When StreetLib launched The New Publishing Standard in September 2017 we made clear the function of the journal was to stimulate debate about the much-neglected global book markets. It was not a StreetLib promotional tool, and not a vehicle to advocate digital at the expense of traditional formats. But occasionally StreetLib becomes part of the Read More …
Europe’s biggest consumer-facing book fair will be taking place in the El Retiro park in Madrid from May 31 through June 16. Anyone wanting to participate as an exhibitor will need to complete registration by noon on 11 February. The Dominican Republic will be guest of honour at the 78th Madrid Book Fair. In 2018 the Read More …
Turkey’s Aras Publishing this week received the coveted Publishing House of the Year Award from Dünya Books Magazine for its role as a window to Armenian literature. Explains Massispost, Aras Publishing was established in 1993 in Istanbul. It adopted a publishing policy which made it called “the window to Armenian literature” soon. With its books Read More …
With a population close to 20 million Romania is by no means one of Europe’s smallest book markets, but often is overlooked by publishers outside the country looking to maximise reach and revenues. Yet Romania has a vibrant online book sector, with Libris leading the online print stores and Elefant the dominant ebook player in Read More …
Adult graphic novels, youth comics, comics for kids, manga… It seems the French couldn’t get enough of the stuff in 2018, doubling sales from independent bookstores. By comparison the other sectors rose just 0.6%. The numbers come from a report by the L’Observatoire de la Librairie commissioned to mark the launch of the Festival International Read More …
