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GermanyKey Indicators Values Sources, commentsBook market size (p+e, at consumer prices) €9,520 million Börsenverein (Publishers and Booksellers’ Association),2012Titles published per year (new and successive editions) 91,100 Börsenverein (Publishers and Booksellers’ Association),2012New titles per 1 million inhabitants 1,138eBook titles (available from publishers) ca. 200,000 EPUB Estimate by LibrekaMarket share of ebooks 5% (mid 2013) (2012): 2.4% (Börsenverein)Key market parameters Fixed book price for printed books; VAT 7%for print, 19% for ebooksBörsenverein lobbying for extended fixed pricing forebooks.dioceses in Southern Germany- erupted again by late summer,with rumors of serious financial strains reported in themedia (FAZ, September 10, 2013; for more details on thecompanies of Thalia and Weltbild, see below at “Earlierdevelopments in 2012 and 2011” on page 27).Selfpublishing has taken off in Germany recently both inpopularity among authors and in recognition as a validway to release professionally works of various formats,segments, and ambitions. Several dedicated platformscould extend their scope and reach, including epubli,owned by the Holtzbrinck group, and independent Xinxii.Numerous service providers have also started to enter thewidening market niche (for an overview see Buchreport,July 19, 2013).In 2012, Amazon announced a first title (authored by JonasWinner) to have sold over 100,000 copies in the GermanKindle Store, and new bestselling titles continue to emergefrom its Kindle Direct Publishing author service.For an overview of new specialized ventures go to “Dedicatedebook publishers and distributors in Germany” onpage 29.The situation is also evolving rapidly with regard to thenumber of titles offered. The first half of 2012 has seenebook sales worth some €7.83 million (plus an additional3.24 million free downloads, or 41%), equal roughly to allsales in 2011 (Media Control, buchreport; September 11,2012).Earlier developments in 2012 and 2011In recent years, most notably in 2012, market developmentsin both German print fiction and, as a consequence,in the emerging ebook sector, have been driven by a fewblockbuster bestsellers, notably Susanne Collins’ HungerGames trilogy in the first half of the year, E.L. James’ FiftyShades of Grey in the second half, and Jonas Jonasson’s TheHundred Year Old Man (translated from Swedish), throughoutthe entire twelve months (buchreport on the annualbestsellers for 2012, December 31, 2012).The massive impact of just a few megatitles points to thegrowing fragility of a market that, in Germany, has traditionallyrelied on a broad and diverse mix of successfulmidlist titles for its stability. The old balance seems to begiving way to a new unpredictability in the market. As aresult, a debate has opened regarding how to best stabilizethe German book market as it stands today and prepare itfor major shifts driven by a variety of forces, includingchanges in consumer habits and new entrants to the market.Nevertheless, Germany can still be seen as a haven ofrelative stability and calm compared to many other internationalbook markets.Two works of fiction in particular may have helped bringebooks to a wide reading audience: Susanne Collins’s HungerGames trilogy, which hit German movie screens in early2012, and E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey, the wildly popularfan-fiction and self-publishing phenomenon fromRandom House. Other books that drove the German readingmarket in 2012 figure prominently in the top digitalsales positions, such as Ken Follett’s Century of Giants, J.K.Rowling’s Casual Vacancy, and the most popular examplesof crime fiction, be they translated (such as Jussi Adler Olsenfrom Danish) or home grown (Nele Neuhaus).The boost from ebooks comes primarily from the threemarket leaders in German publishing —Random House,the Holtzbrinck group, and Bonnier (with their Ullstein andPiper imprints)—and a few midsized publishing housesThe Global eBook Report 27