By Siobhan O’Leary There were only 38 mergers and acquisitions in the German publishing and media industries in 2009, as compared with 66 in 2008, according to the consulting firm Bartholomäus & Cie and as reported in Buchreport. The acquisition of bol.com from the Holtzbrinck Group by Dutch equity investor Cyrte Investments was, according to B&C, the largest deal in the …
“Millions of people now own Kindles”
By Edward Nawotka “Millions of people now own Kindles. And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It’s been an exciting 27 months.” The statement was made by Jeff …
Best of '09: Analysing the Global Ranking of Publishers
As 2009 comes to a close we wanted to celebrate by bringing you a week’s worth of your favorite articles that we’re run on Publishing Perspectives. We’ll be back on Monday, January 4, with our next new feature. In the meantime, enjoy the best of ‘09 and check our news blog for updates and analysis. Today, industry consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart …
The Best Year-End Book Lists You Never Knew Existed
Editorial by Andy Selsberg At the end of each year, our innate human itch for lists gets pretty well-scratched: best, worst, and most-seen movies, top songs, choicest quotes, most salacious scandals, hottest web memes—you name it. When it comes to books, I admit I’m often more excited about reading bestseller lists than I am about reading the bestsellers. I think …
What’s Hot in Romance? E-books, Baby!
By Lori James PALM HARBOR, FL: Digital publishing is a popular topic at the moment, and it should be. During a time when our overall world-wide economy is struggling, digital sales are up, way up. The top selling genre? Romance. At AllRomance.com we’re carefully watching this rapidly shifting market. With over 30,000 romance titles, and close to $3 million in …
German Buch News: Virtual Author Readings Gain Popularity, Advertising Volume is Up (Just)
By Siobhan O’Leary Virtual author readings are becoming a more common occurrence in Germany. The Tagesspiegel writes that publishers such as Berlin’s Galiani Verlag are creating bigger and better events that take place even if their authors cannot attend them or are unable or unwilling to attend. One of Galiani’s latest books, Nichts als die Welt (Nothing But the World) …
Bonus Material: Frankfurt’s Final Attendance Tally
By Siobhan O’Leary The Frankfurt Book Fair came to a close on Sunday, recording the second highest number of visitors in the fair’s 60-year modern history. The 290,469 attendees — including 181,155 trade visitors — constituted 2.9% fewer visitors than last year’s record attendance. The Literary Agents and Scouts Centre (LitAg) experienced a 2.6% increase in attendance over last year, …
Russia Predicting 20% Drop in Book Sales in 2009
By Chad Post “Market Trends in Russia and Digital Publishing” was the topic of Wednesday’s Business Breakfast, kicking off a hectic few days of Professional Programs at the Fair with an introduction to the contemporary publishing scene in Russia. Vladimir Grigoriev, the Deputy Head for the Federal Agency of Press and Mass Communication, presented a lot of summary data, using …
Analysing the Global Ranking of Publishers
By Rüdiger Wischenbart Editor’s Note: For the past three years publishing consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart has released a “Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry,” which looks at companies with revenues over $US250 million. Here is his analysis of the latest ranking, focusing on how the changing dynamics between the professional/science, education and trade sectors have have affected this year’s ranking. It …