January 17, 2023 In book markets, english

Beyond Publishers

Researching the scope and diversity in non-traditional models in the book business today

Hammering Man in Frankfurt, Germany
Hammering Man
Please help us with some research on the book industry by filling out a short questionnaire! (And receive a small gift).
 
We need your input, observations, and insights to better understand today’s dynamic expansion of nontraditional publishing, book distribution, and marketing models – when authors successfully find an audience without first approaching a publisher or agent, the traditional entry points and gatekeepers to the book business.
 
Today, the publishing industry “Beyond Publishers” is
  • Far more diverse;
  • Much more complex, and also more adaptable;
  • Probably bigger than one might expect.
 
Why is this important?
 
For most of these offerings, we find no concrete data. And hardly anything shows up in the usual book statistics.
 
Therefore we ask you to use this link for filling out a questionnaire with a total of just 3 questions (in German or English).
When done, we’ll offer you a surprise gift!
Thank you very much!
October 4, 2022 In book markets, english, Global50 Ranking

CEOTalk2022-EN

Global 50 CEO Talk 2022 "Beyond Publishers": Ashleigh Gardner and Michael Tamblyn on "New facets of the global book business today."

The Global 50 CEO Talk 2022, held in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair Studio on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, from 14.00 to 15.00, will explore the book business beyond traditional publishers.

In recent years, the novel ways of how authors exploit their intellectual property (or IP) have opened wide and highly productive fields of creation, radically expanding what books, publishing and reading encompasses today:

  • Authors are building critical communities of readers online;
  • Well established bestselling authors are going ‘direct’ by publishing their books themselves;
  • Cross-media exploitation intertwining books, movies and games have expanded;
  • Industry sized cooperations between digital platforms and retailers have become well established practices;
  • With the success of graphic novels and manga, traditional boundaries between gernes of narrative fiction have blurred;
  • New business models have surged, including freemium and subscription, curated access to collections and both broad as well as highly specialized niche collections of titles.

This year’s CEO Talk will shed light on the game changing dynamics resulting from these non-traditional publishing models and explore the opportunities with thought leaders from two of the world’s largest platforms in this regard:

  • Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad WEBTOON, Canada/Korea), and
  • Michael Tamblyn (Kobo Rakuten, Canada).

The Global 50 CEO Talk is prepared in conjunction with the Global 50 Publishing Ranking of the publishing industry, mapping the 50 largest publishing corporations each year since 2007

This ranking is listing the world’s 50 largest publishing companies, who in 2021 generated publishing revenues of 58.8 bnEUR in 2021 (66.7 bnUSD).

The Global 50 Publishing Ranking is researched by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting, and published by Bookdao (PR China), The Bookseller (UK), buchreport (Germany), Livres Hebdo (France) and Publishers Weekly (US).

The Global 50 Ranking and CEO Talk are supported by Bookwire (www.bookwire.de )

Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad WEBTOON Studios)

About Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad WEBTOON Studios):

As Senior Vice President, Managing Director Global Publishing, Ashleigh Gardner works with writers and publishers around the world to turn stories and digital comics from Wattpad and WEBTOON into books and graphic novels. Under Ashleigh’s leadership, the Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group is reshaping the publishing industry by leveraging data and insights from the one billion uploads that have been shared on Wattpad to find future best-sellers. In addition to publishing stories under the Wattpad Books and W imprints, Ashleigh sells translation rights, creating global imprints in partnership with some of the leading publishers around the world. 

 

Michael Tamblyn (Rakuten Kobo CEO)

Michael Tamblyn, President and Chief Executive Officer at Rakuten Kobo, drives growth, profitability and international expansion in a fiercely competitive market. He combines a passion for reading with a deep focus on hardware and software experiences. In addition to leading Rakuten Kobo, the global digital bookseller, he advises start-ups focused on aging and technology as Chief Entrepreneur of Age-Well NCE, is on the board of directors of the Law Commission of Ontario, Ontario’s law reform body, as well as The Power Plant, Toronto’s foremost contemporary art gallery. Michael has been a part of Rakuten Kobo’s executive team since its inception in 2009, and previously held the role of Chief Content Officer. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario.

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