Bookwire experienced growth in all business segments in 2017

Frankfurt 02 January 2018 - Frankfurt digital services provider Bookwire looks back on 2017 as a year that was successful in every respect. The business recorded two-figure growth rates internationally for all relevant indicators. The number of employees grew and Bookwire MACS technology also significantly expanded. Here is the year in facts and figures - and a preview of the strategy for an equally successful 2018:

Jens Klingelhöfer, CEO of Bookwire GmbH: “In 2017, Bookwire underpinned its global leading role in the sphere of distribution and marketing of digital publisher content, in a consolidating market for digital service providers. The ‘software-as-a-service’ area for large publishers was successfully built up, and noteworthy customers were gained at home and abroad.”

Turnover – gains in all areas

• In the three quarters of 2017 that have been analysed and evaluated so far, turnover from distribution in Bookwire’s core business segment, as an aggregator for publishing clients, increased by more than 20% in comparison with the same period in the previous year.

• In line with expectations, turnover in the audiobook area experienced the strongest growth in comparison with 2016, at more than 40%, because of the booming audio market.

DACH publishing clients – increase in turnover for publishing clients and new publishers on board

• Bookwire currently works with more than 950 publishing clients on the German-speaking market.

• Even by the end of October 2017, the number of sales transactions managed using Bookwire MACS software solutions was 38% higher than for the whole of 2016.

• The total number of titles entered into Bookwire MACS has grown by more than 50% over the course of the year. Over 300,000 eBooks and audiobooks from more than 1,500 national and international clients are currently managed in Bookwire MACS.

• New clients supplied include Münchener Verlagsgruppe and Verlag Herder, among others.

• Random House Germany, German Bonnier Verlage, as well as Holtzbrinck Buchverlage, trust the global Bookwire network with the international distribution of their German eBook catalogues (for detailed information about international publishing clients, see reports on international Bookwire branches below).

Shop network – links with big players and niche experts

• Bookwire signed contracts with a large number of audio players and streaming portals in the dynamic digital audiobook market, including:

• BookBeats (Bonnier group start-up) and big players Apple MUSIC and Spotify, as well as library services provider OverDrive.

Business – more staff and the first international acquisition in the firm’s history

• The number of employees at the headquarters in Frankfurt a.M., as well as at the offices in Brazil, Mexico and Spain, grew to 46 (there are currently 30 staff members in the Frankfurt team and the branches employee 16 people).

• For the first time since its establishment in 2009, Bookwire GmbH acquired an international business, in the form of Brazilian distribution platform DLD (see below for more information about DLD).

Bookwire Brasil – grew to become market leader

• During the course of the year, Bookwire became market leader for digital distribution in Brazil.

• This is also partly due to the acquisition of successful distribution platform Distribuidora de Livros Digitais (DLD). More than 10,000 eBook titles are distributed through the platform, which is now being completely absorbed into local subsidiary “Bookwire Brazil”.

• Even before the acquisition, it was possible to increase the Bookwire title catalogue by more than 60% in 2017. Turnover with Brazilian publishing titles actually doubled in 2017 in comparison with the previous year.

Bookwire Spain & Latin America – catalogue doubled

• Bookwire significantly built up its presence in Spain and Latin America in 2017:

• The number of distribution titles in Spain doubled: turnover increased by more than 81% in comparison with the same period in the previous year.

• New publishing clients include HarperCollins Ibérica, Acantilado, Edhasa, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Malpaso and Gigamesh (published the Spanish-language “Game of Thrones” eBooks, among others). Bookwire Spain & Latin America currently distributes around 28,000 eBooks in total.

Bookwire MACS software – expansion of sales-promotion features

The most important expansions of the in-house technology platform during the past 12 months relate in particular to the areas of marketing and audio, e.g.:

• Bookwire Marketing Analytics for analysing and optimizing price campaigns

• Bookwire Audio Stream Snipping (BASS) for optimum playing of audiobook files on streaming portals for content-based exploitation.

• Certification of the leading publishing software solutions on the market, for even more seamless integration of Bookwire services into publishing clients’ system landscape.

2018, 2019, ... – strategy for a successful future

According to Klingelhöfer, “for 2018, Bookwire will be continuing to expand its international activities. It will also be making significant investments in scalable future technologies for national and international clients”. “The particular focus of this will be on expansion of marketing and analytics services, to guarantee Bookwire clients a clear competitive edge in the future. To this end, Bookwire is cooperating with experts from the fields of “artificial intelligence” and “deep learning”, among others, in order to support publishers on the way to becoming successful and sustainably competitive ecommerce businesses.”