Two Unlikely Publishing Leaders Spotlighted at the Frankfurt Book Fair
A discussion on strategy in book publishing – Powered by Zebralution!
How Núria Cabutí, CEO at Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, and Chantal Restivo-Alessi, CEO International at HarperCollins Publishers, excel globally in their respective unconventional book markets.
The Gobal 50 CEO Talk 2025, held in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, will take place on Wednesday, October 15, from 14:00 to 15:00 at the International Stage (Hall 5/6, level Via).
The session will explore the outstanding strategic visions that drive two of the largest book corporations, HarperCollins Publishers and Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, as they successfully perform in markets that require both a bold mix of digital innovation and solid handling of highly segmented audiences.
HarperCollins identified the enormous potential for international expansion in 2014 with its acquisition of Harlequin, expanding its direct publishing operations to 15 foreign language markets. It has since grown international trade publishing by more than 750%.
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial demonstrated how to reach out consistently to Hispanic audiences beyond the Spanish peninsula, from Argentina all the way north to the United States, and yet with highly specific local and regional tastes and author preferences.
Both companies succeeded in their ambitions only by implementing a mix of distributed market approaches, strong centralized strategic management, and an innovative mindset open to using digital workflows and delivery solutions to meet their complex goals.
We are thrilled to announce that this event is powered by Zebralution!
About the Global 50 CEO Talk:
The Global 50 CEO Talk is prepared in conjunction with the Global 50 Publishing Ranking, which has mapped the 50 largest publishing corporations each year since 2007.
Núria Cabutí is a native of Barcelona and graduated in Economic Sciences from the UAB. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies from Oxford Brookes University and an MBA from IESE. She got her start in the publishing sector in 1992, and since then, she has developed her professional career within the publishing group. In 1998 she was named Director of Marketing at the Plaza & Janés imprint. Following the merger that created Random House Mondadori in 2001, she was named Director of Marketing and Communications. In 2003, she was appointed Editorial Director of the Children’s and Young Readers Division and later took on the direction of Debolsillo as well. Since 2010, she was the CEO of Random House Mondadori. She was appointed CEO of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial in 2013, and she is a member of the Penguin Random House International Board. Since 2021, she is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann. She is part of the Board of Cercle d’Economia and the Advisory Board of José Ortega y Gasset -Gregorio Marañon Foundation.
Chantal Restivo-Alessi is Chief Digital Officer and CEO, International Foreign Language, for HarperCollins Publishers, leading the company’s global digital strategy and foreign language publishing program. She works with each division around the world to manage commercial relationships with new and existing digital partners, grow digital revenues, and oversee the company’s developing foreign language publishing program.
Unser Ziel war, ausgehend von einer klassischen Erzählung deren Geschichte in die Gegenwart zu transferieren, in unterschiedliche sprachliche wie auch kulturelle Kontexte zu transferieren, die Geschichte in unterschiedlichen Formaten zu präsentieren und jeweils zu all diesen Schritten genau zu beobachten was an diesen funktioniert, was nicht funktioniert – und welche neuen Fragestellungen sich ergeben.
Unsere klassische Vorlage war das “Hohelied der Liebe” aus dem Alten Testament der Bibel in der Übersetzung von Martin Luther.
Das Hohelied der Liebe – in unsere heutige Zeit transponiert
Die Ergebnisse wollen wir auf unseren beiden Websites Zug um Zug veröffentlichen und zusätzlich auch den genauen Weg offenlegen, wie wir vorgegangen sind.
Die Berliner Präsentation von Carlo Carrenho finden Sie hier:
Meine Idee war, 3 verschiedenen neu Versionen ausgehend von der Liebesgeschichte im “Hohelied der Lieb” mit Hilfe von ChatGPT zu erstellen, die allesamt heute spielen:
Eine Basis-Version, in der einfach die Story in unsere Gegenwart transferiert wird;
Eine zweite Fassung, die ganz konkret in einem mir gut bekannten Dorf an der österreichisch-tschechischen Grenze spielt, sowie
Eine dritte Version, transformiert aus der Bernhardsthal Story, jedoch in der scheinbar so ganz anderen Umgebung eines kleinen Ortes am Amazonas.
Den neuen Titel erfand ich erst mitten im Arbeitsprozess. Er lautet
“Canticle. A Story of Love and Life.”
Und hier die Zusammenfassung der neuen Geschichte – gewissermaßen der Klappentext:
In “Canticle. A Story of Love and Life,” timeless themes of love, longing, and self-discovery are woven into a modern tale that echoes the lyrical intensity of the ancient Song of Songs. Set in a quiet town where every shadow hides a mystery, Judith and Jakob’s deeply human journey unfolds—marked by passion, doubt, and a haunting connection to the past. As their story intertwines with the poetic cadence of the biblical Canticle, the narrative explores the universal struggles of intimacy and identity. This evocative tale invites readers to reflect on the nature of love and the secrets we carry.
Doch zurück zum Start des Story Telling Experiments: Hier der erste Prompt, mit dem ich mein Story Telling mittels ChatGPT gestartet habe:
Prompt 01
Dieser Text ist eine sehr alte, literarische Liebesgeschichte: Eine Frau und ein Mann sind einander zutiefst zugetan, emotional wie auch erotisch und sexuell. Ich möchte daraus eine entsprechende literarische Geschichte entwickeln, die heute spielt. In einem ersten Schritt sollst du die Nummerierung der einzelnen Zeilen löschen, die Nummerierung und die Struktur der Kapitel aber belassen. In einem nächsten Schritt will ich eine richtige Geschichte aus dem Text entwickeln: Die Frau heißt Judith, der Mann heißt Jakob. Wir wollen den Ort und die Landschaft kennenlernen, in der die beiden leben und zueinander finden. Die dialogische Struktur soll bestehen bleiben, so dass die beiden auch weiterhin miteinander und übereinander sprechen. Die Geschichte soll heute spielen. Judith und Jakob sind zwei junge Erwachsene in einer kleinen Stadt.
Um der Sache etwas zusätzliche erzählerische Dynamik und Spannung zu verleihen, griff ich dann noch einmal ein – mit einem gut bewährten dramaturgischen Trick:
Prompt 02
So now I have a few suggestions for how our story should continue. Switch to Judith’s perspective. In the following night, Judith has a dream, which is both disturbing and exciting her, emotionally and physically, with passages in the dream echoing the original old story – which I had uploaded here as a start for our story. Judith lives through this dream several times in the following nights, in variations, and colored and peppered with many different details, including episodes of sexual pleasure as well as loaded with doubt and confusion, thereby expanding and exploring all her ambivalences about herself, and about her love to Jakob.
Und dann noch ein weiterer Kick mit
Prompt 03
Back to Judith now. We see her in her bookshop, in a little dull moment on a late week morning, when no customers are in the shop, and she can, aimlessly, browse books on her shelves, discovering a copy of a fine edition of the old, and original of the “Canticle. Song of Songs”! She starts reading in the book, and after just a few minutes, finding herself completely absorbed by its story, and even more by the high tone of that book – which, to her utter amazement, seems to tell her own story.
Die gesamte so entstandene Neufassung 01 finden Sie hier.
Als nächstes schien es nun wohl angebracht, auch noch über einen Autoren Namen für die Sache nachzudenken. Immerhin waren hier mit Carlo und mir 2 Urheber zugange, und alles sollte seine Ordnung haben.
I need your help for finding a pseudonym for the author. This pseudonym – consisting of a first name and a surname – should be entirely neutral in the sense of offering no clues on the author’s identity, gender or cultural background, and it should be made of elements of these 2 names: Carlo Carrenho and Rüdiger Wischenbart.
Hier das Resultat:
Certainly! Crafting a pseudonym that is neutral yet derived from Carlo Carrenho and Rüdiger Wischenbart is an engaging challenge. Here are a few options that combine elements from both names while remaining entirely neutral:
Caren Wieshart
Rudi Carran
Carson Wischel
Renho Wischen
Carris Wiger
Caren Ruish
Diger Carrenhart
Rene Carrenbart
Carlis Wisbart
Wischer Carren
These pseudonyms aim to blend elements from both names seamlessly, creating a sense of anonymity while maintaining a professional and memorable sound. Let me know which of these resonates with you, or if you’d like further refinements!
Ich entschied mich letztlich für Vorschlag 7:
Diger Carrenhart
Nächste Station: Die Transformation unserer Geschichte in einen kleinen Ort im Nordosten von Österreich:
I need to return to this great story that the both of us have crafted. We should stick to the main plot lines as they are here, yet for a next move, I want to re-locate and re-frame – geographically and culturally – everything, to develop a new version. As said, the main plot line and the personell – with Judith, Jakob and the stranger must be maintained. BUT the story should be relocated from Grünheim to Bernhardsthal, an even smaller village in the Northeast of Austria, in a region called Weinviertel. Bernhardsthal has just about 1500 inhabitants, with half of it not being born in the village, but coming from the outside. Of course, many come from the Austrian capital of Vienna, which is just an hour’s drive or train right in the Southwest. But others have their origins, for highly diverse reasons and personal histories, much further away, in Bosnia, in Russia, in England, in Columbia and in Chile in South America, or in South Africa. Also Bernhardsthal is sitting on the river Thaya with its lush, yet secretive wetlands full of birds and deer, and the village borders with Southern Moravia in the Czech Republic, a region rich in culture and wine growing. And also the Slovak border is nearby. So the story can be embedded in this complex context full of surprising impulses. As there is no bookstore in the village, Judith must have a different job. And Jakob also has different dreams. Can you re-write our story accordingly, in German, and again at about 4000 to 6000 words long, organized once again nicely in short chapters?
Diese zweite Neu-Fassung des Hohelieds steht hier zum Download bereit.
Und schließlich der dritte Streich:
Neue Region,
neue Sprache,
neuer Tonfall – und doch die alte vertraute Geschichte:
Hier der letzte Prompt:
And now I want to create a third version, once again with the same plot, again with Judith and Jakob, yet once again re-located into an entirely different geographical and cultural context. It will be set now at Leticia, the small town in Colombia in Latin America, on the Amazonas river, bordering to Brazil and Peru. The narration must dwell on the highly complex and rich cultural diversity and the differences between indigenous and Hispanic people plus the foreigners coming to tow as tourists, or smugglers, or developers or natural scientists Jakob should have an indigenous background and name, while Judith comes from Medellin. This version needs o be written in Colombian Spanish, with a tone that richly dwells on typical Colombian idiomatic expressions and even Colombian Slang. And again, please develop the story to about 4000 to 5000 words.
Die kolumbianische Version in exotischer Pracht nachzulesen hier.
Und kein Wunder, dass wir – die Maschine, Diger Carrenhart und ich – längst gute Freunde geworden waren:
¡Avísame si necesitas ajustes! 😊
Du:
Brilliant. Thanks you! so much for today. We will continue our journey soon!
ChatGPT:
De nada, fue un verdadero placer ayudarte a dar vida a esta historia. ¡Espero con ansias nuestra próxima colaboración! Hasta pronto y mucha inspiración para lo que viene. 😊🌟
Übrigens, unseren Spaß an der Geschichte wollen unsere Posts hier ebenfalls vermitteln. Denn auch am Ende unseres Workshops in Berlin haben wir alle – Vortragende wie Publikum – herzlich gelacht über ein so naheliegendes wie auch überraschendes Experiment.
Das lag natürlich auch an einer “KI Polka“, die wir ausborgen durften von einer wunderbaren Platform in ganz anderer Angelegenheit in Slowenien und in ganz Europa, auf die ich gerne verweise.
Am besten, Sie probieren die ganze Sache nun auch selbst aus!
…and how to professionally learn about it! > Proudly announcing a project to sustain professional trainings on innovation for European publishers – supported under Creative Europe and the Austrian Government.
The main goal of the ThinkPub project (2024 to 2027) is to enable European publishing landscape to better adapt to the new realities of the digital disruption, thus making the European book sector more sustainable and creating more jobs. Through an innovative education and training programme, ThinkPub offers a set of advanced digital tools within an online “Library of Digital Learning Objects”.
Photo: ThinkPub 2024
ThinkPub is strategically focused on five key areas: Managerial Innovation, Emerging Technologies, Marketing Innovation, Reading and Translation.
ThinkPub is operated by a consortium of 12 European partner organizations, including Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting in Austria, and coordinated by Beletrina publishing in Slovenia.
The project is co-financed under the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The Austrian contribution is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of the Republic of Austria – Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.
Mike Shatzkin was not afraid to ask big questions. But he was never satisfied with answers that sounded fancy but were not precisely substantiated or researched in detail. In an essay on the “Paradoxes of Cultural Markets” that I wrote in 2002, for example, I expressed my sincere thanks for his “lively scepticism”, which I gratefully received when I asked for his advice on my arguments.
A year earlier, we had organized a conference together at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was to deal with the still quite experimental concepts surrounding the term “ebook”. In the very first preparatory discussion, Mike suggested the title: “Frankfurt Big Questions”. Because, he explained laconically, “book publishing is a business that requires looking well into the future.”
I still get a little dizzy today when I think back to that conversation. How are we going to live up to this claim, I asked myself. A little later, however, I read a very precise guide on Mike’s blog:
„Publishers in 2001 face uncertainty every time they sign up for a book, but even more so when they make infrastructure investments. How much effort should go into digital content and rights management? How much investment should go into developing new delivery forms and channels? Is this exactly the wrong time to invest in more warehouse space, or exactly the right time to invest in print-on-demand capability in the warehouse?“
Today, 23 years later, I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to write these questions, word for word, in the presentation of a new conference.
Our conference took place in October 2001 at the book fair, exactly as planned, with brilliant speakers from startup companies, many of whom were no longer around a few months or a year later. Just one month before our conference, on September 9th, Arab terrorists steered a hijacked plane into the World Trade Center in New York – which sent the Frankfurt Book Fair, with a good 1000 US exhibitors, into a state of shock. And the bursting of the so-called “dot-com bubble” in the summer of 2000 was interpreted by many, especially in the book and publishing business, as the end of these digital fantasies.
Mike Shatzkin had a much clearer view. Just a few years later, he told me how he was now working his way through the sales figures of a large US bookstore chain to show its management what they could learn from these figures and translate them into practical measures for better planning when purchasing titles and for presentation in bookstores.
When talking about such innovative approaches, he never forgot to refer to his father Leonard Shatzkin, from whom he learned these extremely pragmatic, application-oriented approaches to the book business.
With these idiosyncrasies, Mike remains the storybook character of a novel set on New York’s Upper East Side. An avid runner (and consumer of Zero Pepsi as his basic elixir), he completed his jogging laps along precisely marked out routes around the blocks of his neighborhood. And just a few weeks before his death, when he was discharged from hospital, he celebrated his return home with meticulous reports on how far he had walked to this or that store.
How much we – the many of us who knew Mike and learned from him – already miss him is more than clear from the countless posts on his Facebook page. Fortunately, Mike has left us a treasure trove in the form of his decade-long “Shatzkin Files” blog on Idealog.com (a wonderful pun on his way of working), which we just have to keep exploring to keep the connection with Mike Shatzkin alive.
Richard Sarnoff of KKR Private Equity and Jonathan Karp of Simon and Schuster discussing strategic perspectives for the iconic New York publisher
We had a full house on the International Stage at the Frankfurt Book Fair as the two top executives shared thoughts and strategies that went far beyond the future of one of the world’s leading publishing houses.
Sarnoff emphasised how important it is for the publisher to receive major financial investment following the private investors’ takeover, in order to exploit not only new bestsellers but also a backlist stretching back a century.
And yet, Karp added, it will still be an operation that carefully develops one author and one title at a time, not just for the American audience, but for readers around the world.
So expect new investments in authors and titles, new acquisitions of other international book companies and the exploration of publishing models that go far beyond traditional approaches.
What Drives and Shapes the Global Book Business in 2024?
The Global 50 Publishing Ranking 2024 provides a deep dive into today’s international book industry, using many of the world’s leading publishers as examples. The companies listed generate over 60 billion euros in revenue – more than half of the global publishing market value.
Since its first edition in 2007, the Global 50 Publishing Ranking has provided a comprehensive and in-depth annual overview of the global book business, with a ranking of the industry leaders, analysis of key trends and strategic developments, and detailed company profiles, rich with key data on financials, mergers and acquisitions, structural business developments such as changes in top management, corporate restructuring, and digital and AI-related innovations.
The report reflects surprising continuities and profound shifts in an industry that is experiencing highly dynamic consolidation as well as transformative forces that are radically reshaping business and distribution models for consumer books, educational materials, and scholarly and professional information services.
The Global 50 Publishing Ranking is researched by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting and published by leading international book industry publications, including Publishers Weekly (USA), The Bookseller (UK), Livres Hebdo (France), dpr Digital Publishing Report (Germany) and Bookdao (China).
Today, book publishing has become a true part of the global content business. Yet books have retained a unique quality because publishing has created the most diverse manifestations of what can be neatly summed up by those 4 letters – B O O K:
Books can be printed on paper, listened to on a smartphone, packaged as an educational course, subscribed to as a globally branded academic journal, or snacked on as a serialized animated story. Books are embraced by audiences in multiple formats, physical or digital, picked up in a bookstore or on an online platform, presented by a small but highly creative independent press or by a global publishing conglomerate.
The Publishing Ranking 2024 documents and analyses this industry in a comprehensive global perspective.
Simon & Schuster's Global Expansion and Digital Transformation Spotlighted at Global 50 CEO Talk 2024
Prominent Guest Speakers, Jonathan Karp, CEO of Simon & Schuster and Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of Media for KKR's Private Equity platform in the Americas to discuss Simon & Schuster’s Strategic Vision and Growth Opportunities at the Frankfurt Book Fair’s Premier Industry Event
The Global 50 CEO Talk 2024, held in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, will take place on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, from 14.00 to 15.00 at the International Stage (between halls 4.1 and 5.1). The session will explore the strategic vision of Simon & Schuster, the iconic global publishing company celebrating its 100th anniversary. Jonathan Karp will highlight Simon & Schuster’s evolving role as a global publishing powerhouse, expanding its reach internationally while embracing digital transformation and innovation in publishing.
Simon & Schuster, acquired by KKR in 2023, continues to grow its global footprint, with recent acquisitions of leading Dutch publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) and Australian publisher Affirm Press, marking its international ambitions. As the company continues to diversify across print and digital channels, Karp will explore the opportunities and challenges of scaling internationally and how Simon & Schuster is positioning itself for sustained growth.
Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of Simon & Schuster and long-time KKR investor and former senior publishing industry executive, will provide additional context on Simon & Schuster’s successful transition under new ownership and how the company is poised to lead in both established markets and new growth areas within the evolving publishing landscape.
Jonathan Karp and Richard Sarnoff will be interviewed live on stage by the editors of by Bookdao (PR China), The Bookseller (UK), dpr – Digital Publishing Report (Germany), Livres Hebdo (France) and Publishers Weekly (US) in a conversation moderated by Rüdiger Wischenbart.
The Global 50 CEO Talk is prepared in conjunction with the Global 50 Publishing Ranking, which has mapped the 50 largest publishing corporations each year since 2007. The world’s 50 largest publishing companies included in the latest ranking report generated publishing revenues of over 60 bnEUR (65 bnUSD) in 2023. The ranking has been researched and updated annually since 2007 by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting.
The Global 50 Ranking and CEO Talk are supported by Bookwire (www.bookwire.de).
The full Global 50 report, with the big list, an analysis and data-rich company profiles will be available as a digital publication of around 250 pages from late September 2024 at www.wischenbart.com/ranking.
About Jonathan Karp:
Jonathan Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster, leads the company’s numerous publishing groups as well as its international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Karp first joined Simon & Schuster in June 2010 as publisher of the company’s flagship imprint, and was named President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing in 2018. Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Karp was Publisher and Editor in Chief of Twelve, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, which he founded in 2005, following his tenure as Editor in Chief of Random House, where he began his publishing career. Karp serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Publishers and the Advisory Board of NYU’s Center for Publishing and Applied Literary Arts.
About Richard Sarnoff
Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of the Simon & Schuster Board of Directors, brings a wealth of experience in publishing, media, and education. His illustrious career includes serving as a senior executive and Supervisory Board member at Bertelsmann, where he held leadership roles both at Random House and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. In addition, Sarnoff served as Chairman of the Association of American Publishers during a key time in the evolution of the publishing industry as it adapted to the growth of eBooks and digital audiobooks. He currently serves as Chairman of Media within KKR’s Americas Private Equity business and in addition to the Simon & Schuster Board currently serves on the Boards of OverDrive, Teaching Strategies, Chegg, AST SpaceMobile, Lightcast, and numerous not-for-profit organizations.
There is so much more going on in the international book business then what fits between two covers.
Self-publishing – platforms that target highly segmented target audiences – multi-format publishing – multi-channel distribution – serialization – readers (and listeners) who have taken on the role of book ambassadors.
There are so many ways for books to be created, produced, picked up by consumers – and devoured!
And amazingly, most of this is not represented in the book and publishing statistics and bestseller lists that we look at to make sense of our industry.
The library at the headquarter of Yuewen China Literature in Shanghai. (Photo: Ruediger Wischenbart)
“Publishing Beyond Publishers” provides a global overview of the rapidly expanding universe of publishing models.
Most of these go well beyond the traditional value chain of authors working through traditional publishers (as gatekeepers and producers of their work).
Instead, content can be created and disseminated in a variety of formats (print, digital), media (books, audio, films, games), distribution channels (communities, platforms, streams) and business models (unit sales of products, subscriptions, streaming, freemium, paid models) in mostly digitally defined supply and marketing chains.
This study maps representative cases of these new models and adds evidence-based indicators to assess the scale of these sectors and sub-sectors.
The report has been written by Ruediger Wischenbart, with Thad McIlroy.
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