News from the Herd - June '26

AI in the publishing world – Zebras discuss the issue at IG Digital

At the Börsenverein’s Focus Days in Frankfurt, the Digital Interest Group, the Sustainability Interest Group and the Guidebooks & Travel Interest Group came together to discuss new business models, the role of AI in the publishing industry, and change and the future in general. Of course, the Zebras were there too! Tatjana Brünjes and Lisa Gutman travelled from Berlin, whilst Marianne Kraus and Albrecht Mangler made their way from Munich to take part in lively discussions and a wonderful summer party.

Albrecht Mangler also gave a well-attended and entertaining talk, together with Juliane Reichwein from Droemer Knaur, offering plenty of insights into the ever-popular topic of AI: in which areas is AI actually already playing a role behind the scenes today, and what does this mean for the strategic (re)orientation of publishing work?

The Globinies are going on a world tour – powered by Zebralution

At the end of the month, the time had finally come – after months of preparation, our new project with our partners The Pantry Music and El Cartel Brothers finally went live: in this innovative musical audio drama, The Pantry Music sends four animal protagonists on exciting adventures around the world. Stories and songs alternate, and young and old alike can learn something along the way. When it comes to marketing, Zebralution is bringing all its expertise from the audio drama and music industries to bear, whilst El Cartel Brothers is promoting the new series on RTLZWEI’s family programmes, both on TV and online. The first episodes have been released, with more to follow. The Zebras wish Bärti the Bear, Faulo the Sloth, Taubella the Dove and Cheesi the Mouse wonderful experiences and a bright future!

The Big Five Killer: Rewriting the rules of publishing with a solo, AI-driven house - Fred Zimmerman on the IGNITE!Publishing Podcast

In the latest, 23rd episode of the IGNITE!Publishing podcast, Daniel Lenz and Albrecht Mangler interview the American publisher Fred Zimmerman about a fascinating experiment: is it possible, with just one human employee and a host of AI agents, to publish and then sell enough books to become a competitor to the Big Five publishers in the US? The discussion covers the origins of the idea, initial difficulties, huge leaps forward thanks to technological developments, impressive figures and early insights into what the future might look like – at least in the non-fiction sector. In keeping with this, Data Doc Vero has the latest figures on AI usage in the German publishing world at the ready.