The Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest international industry event, is once again on a course for growth following a low during the pandemic, welcoming 230,000 visitors this year. Moreover, a growing enthusiasm for reading among young people was impressive to see at the trade fair. Thousands of book lovers celebrated their favorite books and authors at readings, book signings and at the booths.
“The Frankfurt Book Fair was an impressive testament to the growing enthusiasm for reading among young people,” says Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, President of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. “Watching thousands of book lovers celebrating their favorite books and authors sparks excitement for the future of books.” Optimism has returned to the book industry, and the international nature of the Frankfurt Book Fair is also giving the industry a push.
Fruitful cross-genre adaptations
In this context, Juergen Boos, President of Frankfurt Book Fair, emphasized: “Collaboration and cooperation are increasingly playing an important role. The publishing industry is approaching its neighbors in the creative industries – and vice versa. Our business in the area of cross-genre adaptations is becoming ever more important – this has long been the case for the film industry’s interest in the Frankfurt Book Fair, and is now steadily becoming the case for the world of games.” All segments that are increasingly influencing each other.
One good example is collaboration with the Berlinale Berlin International Film Festival. A joint effort was made to organize the book-to-screen matchmaking, which Netflix, Constantin Film (Germany), Globo (Brazil) and Pragmatic Pictures (USA) took part in, among others. “The expectations for the games area, which we offered for the first time in cooperation with the
Bologna Children’s Book Fair, were fully met. Following our slogan ‘A book is a film is a game!’, we are driving forward business with cross-genre adaptations,” emphasizes Juergen Boos.
New adult – a festival celebrating reading
Printed books remain and are even growing in demand again among young people. Social media is an important source of momentum for book sales. Around one-third of young people become aware of books on social media. In the group of 16- to 19-year-olds, that number climbs to 38 percent according to Consumer Panel Services GfK. In 2023, #BookTok resulted in the sale of 12 million books in Germany – an increase of 56 percent compared to the previous year. This growing interest of young audiences is a major opportunity for book shops and publishing houses that adapt to the needs of their customers in terms of their sales approach, assortment and demand management and are also active themselves on social media.
In this context, the Frankfurt trade fair organizer initiated a new area for the new adult segment, which was met with positive response by the community. The exclusive tickets quickly sold out. Lines of thousands of book lovers formed outside, queuing in the also new meet-the-author area for an autograph and selfie with their favorite authors.
Social media – an important source of momentum
During the book fair, figures on the German book market were also published, revealing that the book remains relevant, able to hold its ground in a difficult overall economic climate. In 2023, industry sales grew by 2.8 percent compared to the previous year, and the first half of 2024 also recorded positive growth of 1.2 percent. With a 41.8 percent share in sales, stationary book shops remain the largest sales channel for books according to Media Control. On-site sales grew by 2.6 percent compared to the previous year.
Social media is an important source of momentum for book sales. The trend also has economic implications. The two groups of fiction and children’s and youth literature are currently growing, recording an increase in sales of 7.7 percent (fiction) and 2.9 percent (children’s and youth literature) in 2023 compared with the previous year.
Yours,
Knud Wassermann
Editor-in-Chief of
Graphische Revue