Bastei Lübbe does good business with bestsellers by Ken Follett and Dan Brown. But another line of business, in which social media is the focus and love is the novel’s theme, is becoming more important.
After a very good business year, the book publisher Bastei Lübbe is increasingly relying on social media to retain readers. The so-called community publishing brands, in which Bastei Lübbe is present on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Book Talk and readers can publish their own reviews, are being expanded, says publishing director Soheil Dastyari to the German Press Agency in Cologne.
“The growth is disproportionately high: in the last financial year, these publishing brands already accounted for 35 percent of our sales, two percentage points more than in the previous year.” He expects business to continue to grow in the future.
Very positive annual figures
The publisher published figures for its 2023/24 financial year, which ended at the end of March, in which it was able to exceed its own expectations: According to company information, sales rose by 10.3 percent to 110.3 million euros in the 2023/24 financial year. The operating result (EBIT) almost doubled to 14 million euros. Management had previously forecast sales of up to 105 million euros and an EBIT of up to 13.5 million euros. The company is listed on the stock exchange, and the share price has roughly quadrupled in the past four years.
The path of active communities, the expansion of the digital business and the focus on popular entertainment have proven to be “sustainably high-performing and full of potential,” says publishing director Dastyari. “The current figures are strong evidence of the high performance of our diversified business strategy and our envisaged growth opportunities.” Bastei Lübbe had 323 employees across the group in the last financial year.
Young women in focus
The community publishing brands, whose books often deal with heartbreak, are aimed at different age groups: One is for 14 to 20-year-olds, Lyx for 16 to 26-year-olds and Pola, which is due to launch its first book titles in the fall, is aimed at 25 to 40-year-olds. All three “imprints”, as a publishing brand is also called, are primarily aimed at women. “That’s obvious, after all, the book market is very female-dominated,” explains Dastyari. “Most books are bought by women.”
Community meetings are important for these brands, whether it’s reading tours, book fairs or other event formats. At Lyx, hundreds or thousands of participants are sometimes expected. This is intended to create a special bond between readers and the brand. “The community is very willing to buy books by previously unknown authors – because the brand stands for a special quality and meets certain expectations.” Young readerships are being tapped into, who are relatively loyal in their purchasing behavior.
Digital is becoming more important for the publisher
Bastei Lübbe’s digital sales have increased slightly. In the past financial year 2023/24, e-books and audiobooks generated a total of 32.4 million. That is 0.9 million euros more than in the previous financial year. “We are focusing on popular entertainment. That is contemporary and finds a good place in today’s media mix,” says Dastyari. In the Lyx publishing brand, the “Save Me” novel series by Mona Kasten is considered a great success, which has now been filmed for Amazon Prime as the “Maxton Hall” series.
What are the future prospects in view of the booming streaming services – don’t people have less time to read if they watch series on Netflix or Amazon Prime in the evening after work? Dastyari shakes his head. “No matter how many streaming services there are – the book market has a stable demand and we can gain market share in the long term with our innovative concept: people always want to be well entertained, that’s our opportunity.”
Source: Stern
