By Siobhan O’Leary German publishers may soon realize that the printed map is a thing of the past. According to Buchreport’s latest figures, sales of printed maps declined 21% in mid-2008 and have dropped another 4.6% since this time last year. With more readers turning to the Internet for travel information and more travelers carrying around navigation systems in their …
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German Buch News: Call for Book Ratings, Mobile Manga
By Siobhan O’Leary As first reported in Der Spiegel, SPD (Social Democratic Party) politician Sebastian Edathy is calling for the formation of a voluntary rating system for the book trade, similar to what exists in the film industry, to identify writings that glorify Nazism or right-wing extremist titles and prevent them from being disseminated, reported Borsenblatt. BuchMarkt follows up on …
German Buch News: Libreka Adds DRM, Bilandia Adds Video
By Siobhan O’Leary Libreka.de, the online book search database run by the Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels, a subsidiary of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, has begun offering DRM as an option for ebooks sold on the site. The site started selling ebooks nearly four months ago; but without DRM, writes the Buchreport, large publishers shied away. Since the …
German Buch News: G+J’s Buchholz joins B’mann’s Exec Board
By Siobhan O’Leary Boersenblatt reports that Gruner + Jahr CEO Bernd Buchholz has been named to Bertelsmann’s Executive Board. He will continue as CEO of G+J and will receive no additional compensation for this new role. After a short stint in politics, Buchholz worked for G+J in various capacities starting in the late 1990s and has been CEO since the …
German Buch News: Merkel Commits to Frankfurt, Schwarze Becomes a Chevalier
By Siobhan O’Leary The Boersenblatt reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to attend the opening of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair on October 13th. It is still unclear which political figures will represent Guest of Honor China at the fair, but what is clear is that the opportunity for political and cultural discourse will be a priority. Longtime Aufbau …
German Buch News: Cheaper Sony E-reader, Reuss Still Ranting
By Siobhan O’Leary On the heels of Amazon’s recent price reduction for the Kindle in the US (to $299), Sony has just lowered its recommended price of its Reader in Germany by 17% to 249 Euros (from 299 Euros). Buchreport reveals that Thalia.de, Germany’s largest bookstore chain, has not only embraced the change but has taken it a step further: …
German Buch News: Bertelsmann Pay Cuts, Twitter Usage Up
By Siobhan O’Leary Executives at Bertelsmann’s Gutersloh headquarters were recently hit with diminished bonuses (as much as 50% lower in some cases) and salary cuts. Now, the pay cuts are affecting other employees at Gutersloh, says Buchmarkt. They will not be seeing the 2.5% pay scale increase that was planned for this month, and employees being paid over and above the …
German Buch News: Sales Up Slightly, “Psychological DRM”
by Siobhan O’Leary Despite the worldwide financial crisis, the German book market continues to remain relatively stable, says Buchreport. The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association) has calculated a 1.4% increase in sales for the first five months of 2009. Of course, the book industry should approach this news with cautious optimism: In 2008, the German book …
German Buch News: “The Readers” premiers, Ebooks for iPhones
By Siobhan O’Leary Today Publishing Perspectives begins a new daily column that aggregates the best publishing and book news from Germany. Enjoy, and look for similar columns coming from other countries in coming weeks. Following the contentious firing of Elke Heidenreich – who wielded Oprah-like authority over book sales with her program, Lesen, – German TV network ZDF has launched a new series …