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New! >> What is “Publishing Beyond Publishers”

A new report explores the many surprising facets of how authors and their readers have reinvented the book business on digital platforms. Click here > Free download for a limited time!

There is so much more going on in the international book business then what fits between two covers.

Self-publishingplatforms 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. 

Download the full report here.

The library at the headquarter of Yuewen China Literature in Shanghai.
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.

“The recent digital growth is here to stay.” The new Digital Barometer (June 2022) is out now!

Consistent digital growth to a new level of digital book consumption, led by growth audiobooks and in new ’access’ driven distribution models across markets as diverse as Germany, Italy, Spain, Hispanic America, Brazil and Canada!

The Digital Consumer Book Barometer provides detailed insights and analysis based on solid and exclusive market data from digital distributors, as guidance for digital book marketing.

The big question was: “Is digital growth, as observed under the pandemic, here to stay?” Two years on, the answer is clear and positive. This is the core learning from the new Digital Consumer Book Barometer 2022, a thorough analysis based on sales data across different markets, various digital formats like ebooks and audiobooks, with comparisons between diverse genre categories, from fiction and nonfiction to children and young adult reading, romance, fantasy, and also education.

Findings include notably the following trends:

  • Audiobooks spearhead the expansion, fueled notably by ‘access’ driven distribution and business models, such as subscription, streaming and lending from public libraries;
  • As digital catalogues have expanded, children books and young adult reading found new audiences, but also other genre categories (such as nonfiction and educational, which include self-help, self-improvement, spirituality);
  • Download sales for both ebooks and audiobooks continue to have a mainstream following in German language markets, while subscription and streaming are increasingly replacing downloads in Hispanic markets and in Brazil;
  • Average price levels went significantly up across all territories, with the sole exception of Brazil;
  • An increasing share of pre-orders for newly released titles indicate more targeted marketing approaches by publishers.

The Digital Consumer Book Barometer provides a granular and efficient toolset for understanding all these complexities and shifting patterns, segment by segment and territory by territory.

The Digital Barometer has been created by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting and is updated regularly since 2018.

The current #June2022 edition, available for download at www.wischenbart.com/barometer, and has been supported by sponsors, notably Bookwire, De Marque, and IPDA.

Contact: office@wischenbart.com

Vienna, in June 2022

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