By Hannah Johnson This Sunday through Tuesday, the Digital Life Design conference is taking place in Munich, Germany. Run by Hubert Burda Media (one of Germany’s largest magazine and broadcast publishers), the conference this year will explore “the state of the digital economy.” Speakers come from all sectors of digital media and technology, including Jeff Jarvis and Amazon CTO Werner …
Booksellers to Shed Clothes to Save Jobs
By Siobhan O’Leary Fewer Germans are landing training jobs at bookstores, says the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training. As reported in buchreport, just 578 people completed apprenticeships in bookselling in 2009, that’s some 26.6% fewer than in 2008. This may not come as a huge surprise given that both the Hugendubel and Mayersche book chains announced last …
Tech Offers Opportunities for Travel Publishers
By Siobhan O’Leary Don’t feel like schlepping both your travel guide and your digital camera on your next vacation? You may not have to in the very near future if Samsung’s new WB650 touchscreen camera with GPS and built-in map is any indication. The Boersenblatt suggests that it might not be a bad idea for travel guide publishers to collaborate …
German Booksellers Optimistic, Shun Self Help
By Siobhan O’Leary German book retailers are a lot more optimistic at the start of 2010 than they were a year ago. According to a survey conducted by buchreport, only 30% of booksellers are skeptical about their prospects for this year (compared to around 50% who anticipated a decline in business last year). However, publishers of non-fiction and particularly self-help …
Massive Global Release Planned for Funke
By Siobhan O’Leary Fans of Cornelia Funke, author of the international bestsellers The Thief Lord and Inkheart, will be happy to know that her new novel Reckless is set to go on sale on September 14th. As reported in the Boersenblatt, the total number of hardcover copies printed is expected to surpass the one million mark. The book will also be released …
Txtr E-Reader Delayed
By Siobhan O’Leary You’ll have to wait a little longer to get your hands on the much anticipated txtr e-reader. The Berlin-based company wrote on its blog that problems arose in the mass production of the device that had not surfaced in smaller samples, and distribution will be delayed until the issue — which affected the device’s wireless component — …
Publishing Expats: Working in France, Germany, Estonia and Ireland
By Siobhan O’Leary Some do it for love. Others for adventure. Many just want a simple change of pace. Moving abroad has its clear advantages and can be rife with challenges, but in the past decade, a number of Americans in publishing have been unable to resist the siren song of the expat lifestyle and have moved to Europe — …
Lübbe Experiments with Exclusive Follett E-book Sale
By Siobhan O’Leary Americans aren’t the only ones experimenting with e-book marketing and publication schedules. German publisher Lübbe gave book chain Weltbild exclusive rights to sell the e-book version of Ken Follett’s Die Tore der Welt (The Pillars of the Earth) for three weeks, starting December 28. According to Buchreport, Lübbe wanted to see if the promotion would help boost paperback sales …
German Minister Threatens Legal Action to Fight Google
By Siobhan O’Leary German Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger recently spoke out against Google in an interview with Der Spiegel, and her criticism was not limited to Google Books. She stated that its services like Google Earth and Google Street View should undergo a legal review and that Google should be much more transparent in its approach to gathering …
Wagenbach Verlag Wins Kurt Wolff Prize
By Siobhan O’Leary This year’s The €26,000 Kurt Wolff Prize has been awarded to Klaus Wagenbach, founder and publisher of the Berlin-based Wagenbach Verlag. The award is granted each year by the Kurt Wolff Foundation to an independent publisher or publishing house. Wagenbach was honored for his decades of service to independent publishing and his dedication to preserving literary quality …