Publishing analyst Carlo Carrenho kicks off the week with a review of the headlines from across the international publishing world.

By Carlo Carrenho, Contributing Editor

Among the week’s headlines: what a recently announced deal for Podium Entertainment says about the audiobook market; Poland moves forward with its fixed book price proposal; in France, the success of Éditions Gallimard’s backlist offers a look at what good publishing looks like; and a Russian study affirms the potential of rights and IP licensing to expand the book business.

If Podium Is Worth $400 Million, What’s the Top Step Worth?

Publishers Weekly reports that audio-focused publisher Podium Entertainment has been acquired from Presidio Investors by private equity firms Flexpoint Ford and Shamrock Capital, with GoldState Music taking a minority stake. Terms were not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal valued the deal at more than $400 million. Podium, which first gained attention for producing the audiobook of Andy Weir’s self-published The Martian, now has a catalogue of more than 15,000 titles, largely in genre fiction and from independent authors, and has expanded into e-books and print. Publishers Weekly also recalls that when H.I.G. Capital and Francisco Partners acquired RBmedia, the world’s largest audiobook publisher, from KKR in 2023 for a reported $1 billion-plus, its catalogue contained about 66,000 titles.

It is interesting to wonder whether Podium could have eventually ended up in RBmedia’s hands instead. RBmedia has been consolidating the sector, acquiring companies such as Dreamscape in the U.S. and, more recently, Boldwood Books in the UK—the latter taking it beyond pure audio into more traditional print and digital publishing. Podium could therefore look like a natural fit as RBmedia continues to bring businesses together and pursue economies of scale. But there is another intriguing comparison here. If the rumored transaction prices are accurate, Podium’s valuation works out at roughly $26,700 per title. When RBmedia changed hands for a reported $1 billion-plus in 2023, with around 66,000 titles, the equivalent figure was about $15,200. On that very crude measure, the implied value per title has risen by more than 70%. Of course, catalogues are not created equal: titles differ enormously in length, rights, commercial potential, and revenue. Still, the comparison is striking—and it inevitably raises the question of what RBmedia itself might be worth the next time it changes hands.

Fixed Prices? Poland Wants to Cap Discounts Too

Rynek Książki reports that Poland is moving forward with a proposed book market protection law following months of consultation. The draft would introduce a uniform book price and cap wholesale distributor discounts at 45%. According to Poland’s Ministry of Culture, the fixed price would apply for 12 months after a book enters the market. The proposal would also establish minimum remuneration of 10% of the cover price for authors and 3% for translators where contracts are based on cover price and introduce automated sales reporting. It would cover print books, ebooks, and audiobooks, with discount exceptions for libraries and other institutions as well as certain multi-day book fairs.

What makes the Polish proposal particularly interesting is that it addresses not only the price consumers pay, but also the terms further up the supply chain. Fixed book price laws traditionally limit retail discounts, but independent bookstores can still be at a disadvantage when large chains and e-commerce retailers use their purchasing power to negotiate much better terms. Poland’s proposed 45% cap on wholesale discounts attempts to tackle precisely that imbalance, making competition fairer before a book even reaches the consumer. That makes the B2B element of the proposal at least as interesting as the fixed retail price itself.

When the Market Slips, Gallimard’s Backlist Holds On

Madrigall, France’s third-largest publishing group and owner of the renowned Éditions Gallimard and several other publishing houses, grew revenue by 8% in 2025 while the French market declined 1.5%. In an interview with Livres Hebdo, group president Antoine Gallimard, grandson of Éditions Gallimard founder Gaston Gallimard, emphasizes the continuing strength of the catalogue: at Éditions Gallimard, the backlist represents 56% of activity in 2026. He also challenges the idea that bestsellers dominate the wider French market, noting that the top 20 titles account for just 4% of sales, the top 100 for 7% and the top 1,000 for 20%. More than half of Madrigall’s sales come through bookstores, while the ten bookstores overseen by Gallimard generate more than €42 million ($48.15 million) annually. Gallimard also rejects claims that Madrigall gives major chains or online retailers better discounts than independent bookstores.

There is something reassuring in these numbers. At a time when publishing can seem focused on finding the next commercial trend, Gallimard is a reminder that the old-fashioned model of building a catalogue of books and ideas with lasting value can still pay off. Of course, few publishers have had the privilege of publishing so many extraordinary authors and building a catalogue like Gallimard has. Still, the strength of its backlist makes a compelling case for thinking long term about acquisitions rather than chasing the next bestseller. And perhaps equally encouraging is Gallimard’s insistence that independent bookstores can receive conditions comparable to major chains and online retailers. Refreshingly traditional, perhaps—but apparently still very good business.

PRH Bets on Brazil’s Audiobook Market

Audiobook production at Companhia das Letras, part of Penguin Random House, has expanded dramatically alongside Brazil’s growing audio market. Antonio Hermida, who oversees the publisher’s digital products, told PublishNews that consumption and revenue have risen consistently for seven or eight years, first driven by Storytel and Bookwire and, more recently, accelerated by Audible’s arrival. The publisher’s production numbers illustrate the scale of that growth: the number of audiobook covers produced has jumped from around 100 a year to almost 100 a month, while production-related payments have increased from about 10 to 200 monthly. Companhia das Letras is also releasing more titles simultaneously in audio and digging deeper into its backlist. In one striking case, a title that had gone two years without a sale started selling again after its audiobook came out.

These production numbers offer another glimpse of the enormous potential of Brazil’s audiobook market—one that official statistics still struggle to capture. Brazilian publishing research remains largely designed around print business models, while some audio revenue does not flow through publishers as conventional book sales and streaming is more difficult to measure. Against that backdrop, the fact that a company the size of Penguin Random House is significantly increasing its audio investment in Brazil is an encouraging sign. Audible has already given the market a substantial push, and another potentially important catalyst is still to come: Spotify, which has yet to launch its audiobook offering in Brazil. Local audiobook publishers are watching closely, hoping its arrival could take the market to another level.

The Amazon Diet for Indie Writers: Only Two Books per Week

The Bookseller reports that Amazon has sharply reduced the number of new titles users can upload through Kindle Direct Publishing, cutting the weekly limit from 10 to two per format. The restriction applies separately to Kindle ebooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers and to all KDP users, regardless of how their books are created. Amazon says the change comes as it reviews its policies and safeguards amid shifts in technology and publishing, but declined to say whether AI-generated content was behind the move.

Amazon may not be saying so, but it is difficult to imagine that the flood of AI-generated content has nothing to do with the decision. And this matters beyond ebooks, since KDP also includes print-on-demand paperbacks and hardcovers. Amazon would once even bring some POD titles into its own inventory for faster delivery, a practice that becomes harder to imagine as the volume of new titles grows. Meanwhile, AI is changing not only the creative side of publishing but the entire production process: it can write the manuscript, help create the cover, and automate much of what is needed to put a book on sale. The prospect of a book reaching Amazon’s catalog with no human involvement is therefore no longer far-fetched. Against that backdrop, limiting uploads looks less surprising—perhaps even inevitable as technology makes book production almost infinitely scalable.

Scholastic’s Most Entertaining Number

Publishers Weekly reports that Scholastic reaffirmed its forecast for full-year revenue growth of 2%–4% despite first-quarter sales falling 4%. CEO Peter Warwick expects an “extremely strong” second quarter, pointing to the “Back to Hogwarts” campaign tied to HBO’s new Harry Potter adaptation and anticipated sales of Suzanne Collins’s Sunrise on the Reaping following the film’s release. Book fair sales declined 3% and trade book sales 4%, while supplemental education dropped 24%. The entertainment group was the standout, with revenue rising 48% to $20.1 million, while international revenue increased 2%.

Scholastic can, of course, count on Harry Potter and The Hunger Games to help deliver a much stronger year than the first quarter suggests. But perhaps the most interesting figure here is the 48% growth of the entertainment group, which develops, produces, and distributes film and television content while also generating revenue from licensing and consumer products. While Scholastic’s book businesses declined in the quarter, this side of the company moved sharply in the opposite direction—a good illustration of how valuable publishing IP can become beyond the book itself. Add that growth to new releases connected to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, and Scholastic has good reason for optimism.

Japan’s Bookstores Think Outside the Book

Combined profits at 304 Japanese bookstore companies reached ¥4 billion ($25.50 million) in fiscal 2025, 4.6 times the previous year, while revenue rose just 2% to ¥612.1 billion ($3.90 billion), according to Tokyo Shoko Research data reported by Nikkei. But the striking profit increase does not reflect a broad recovery: gains were concentrated among larger companies with significant corporate sales and booksellers that have diversified into areas such as cafés and general merchandise. Only 13% of the companies surveyed increased both revenue and profit, and bookstore closures exceeded openings for the 12th consecutive year.

Business Insider Japan highlights Coach & Four, a 10-store chain that combines books with stationery, cafés, food and other products—all operated directly rather than outsourced to tenants. Its revenue rose from ¥14.14 billion ($90.14 million) in 2021 to ¥15.83 billion ($100.91 million) in 2025. At its large Wakabadai store in Tokyo, book sales are broadly flat while food and capsule toys are growing.

The Japanese numbers reinforce something increasingly clear in bookselling: survival requires differentiation. The sector may be reporting sharply higher profits overall, but those gains are being driven disproportionately by larger and more diversified businesses. Coach & Four is particularly interesting because it treats cafés, food, and other products as part of its own business rather than simply renting space to third parties. It is easy to lament that non-book products are taking over bookstore space. But perhaps the smarter perspective is that those products are helping keep books on the shelves. In Japan and elsewhere, booksellers increasingly need to think outside the box.

Publishing, Meet the Movies. Movies, Meet Publishing.

A Russian study by VK Video and Litres found that 77% of respondents become interested in a book after watching its screen adaptation, and 65% of those interested then read or listen to it, according to Knizhnaya Industriya. The survey of more than 1,500 VK and Litres users also found that 44% prefer to read the book before watching the adaptation. That strong connection between books and screen is exactly what a new U.K. initiative is trying to tap into. The Bookseller reports that Netflix is partnering with the British Library to donate collections of books behind its adaptations to 100 public libraries through the Library’s Living Knowledge Network, alongside related events. Netflix is also funding the British Library’s literary conservation and archives and has created a “Watch Your Favourite Books” collection on its platform.

Publishing could do more to capitalize on its natural audience overlap with other creative industries. Readers and viewers are already making those connections themselves: the Russian research shows how readily people move from a screen adaptation to the book behind it. The opportunity is to make that journey easier and more visible. How often, for example, do you see an advertisement for a book in a cinema before the feature starts? Almost never. That is why the Netflix–British Library initiative is so welcome. It recognizes an audience connection that already exists and actively builds on it. Publishing, film, and television have plenty to gain from creating more of these bridges.

What Else Caught My Eye

A listening man. Men account for more than half of audiobook listening on Spotify in Sweden, despite reading books less frequently than women overall. In Boktugg.

A Washington soup. Archipelago Books is finally publishing the first North American English-language edition of Quino’s Mafalda, with a second volume due December 1. In Publishers Weekly.

A tequila booth. Mexico is returning to Frankfurt with a privately funded collective stand coordinated by Lecturable, bringing together 44 co-exhibitors. In PublishNews Spain.

A bloody bridge. Created by a Danish and a Swedish crime writer as a joint bilingual project, the audiobook series Blod över Öresund has already reached the top 10 on Swedish platforms. According to Gyldendal Astra on LinkedIn.

A metadata snack. Germany’s MVB is integrating Snackz’s AI tool into its system to generate classifications, keywords and SEO text from manuscripts or book proposals. In Börsenblatt.

A Polish háček. ElredoVoice is bringing 20 Harlequin titles from HarperCollins Polska into Czech audio using AI-enabled production. Published on LinkedIn.

A reading shoe. Pan Macmillan, Spotify and HYPHNT have launched £79 children’s trainers that use NFC to open audiobooks on Spotify with a tap of a phone. In The Bookseller.

The writer of this column, in another life, was a publisher at Brazilian group Ediouro, which published Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. As the book approached the public domain in Brazil, figuring out the rights required understanding its unusual copyright situation in France. World War II had already extended French protection, but authors officially recognized as having “died for France” got another 30 years. Since Saint-Exupéry disappeared in action, the question was: had he died for France?

After unanswered emails to Gallimard, a business trip to Barcelona provided an excuse for a Monday-morning detour to Paris, with one mission: to find out if Saint-Exupéry had died pour la France. The visit also meant enjoying Gallimard’s gardens in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and feeling the weight—and pleasure—of a catalogue filled with extraordinary writers. And yes, he found out: Saint-Exupéry had officially died for France.

The writer of this column thinks every ticket to a movie based on a book should double as a discount voucher for that book at a nearby bookstore. From screen to shelf, with a little incentive.