News from the Herd - May '26

New inspiration at industry events in Berlin and Edinburgh

May brings new beginnings, so this time of year, when nature really comes into its own, is also a great moment to draw inspiration for your own work. It’s amazing how many industry events there were this month, despite the busy schedule of public holidays! The Scottish Book Trade Conference took place in Edinburgh, where the Zebras learned about the trends and dynamics of the Scottish publishing landscape and were delighted to hear that both audiobooks and the indie book market are on the rise there.

Publishing topics were naturally also on the agenda at re:publica, the festival for the digital society in Berlin. Topics discussed there included how and to whom dark romance titles should be marketed responsibly in the physical world, the socio-political influence that online fandoms and fan fiction can have, and how public service broadcasting can use #BookTok and #Bookstagram to promote promising literary adaptations.

BiblioCon is the professional conference of the German library sector and also took place in Berlin this year. Here, the Zebras were able to see for themselves that digital formats now play a significant role in libraries too, and that the high demand for romance titles is also reflected there.

Here’s to a good partnership: reading material and food for thought

No matter what month it is, the Zebras are always deeply moved by the wonderful sense of camaraderie in the publishing industry. The good relationships we have with our publishing partners are also evident in the wonderful parcels we receive – sometimes they contain exciting new books that help satisfy our never-ending hunger for reading, and sometimes they contain real comfort food in the form of sweets and snacks that brighten up our daily office life and make the Zebras’ tummies happy. We’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our lovely publishers, who made us very happy with these in May!

Discoverability in the Age of AI – Sebastian Zahn on the IGNITE! Publishing Podcast

In the 21st episode of the IGNITE!Publishing podcast, Daniel Lenz and Albrecht Mangler spoke to Sebastian Zahn from Droemer Knaur about what publishers need to do today – in an age of AI-powered search, opaque platform algorithms and growing competitive pressure – to reach their readership. The discussion covers GEO rather than SEO, metadata, rethinking the marketing funnel, branding, the power of empathy, and which KPIs really matter right now.

Shaking up the Big Five with a creative data compass – inside Sourcebooks’ rise – Dominique Raccah on the IGNITE! Publishing Podcast

And because our IGNITE!Publishing podcast is released every three weeks, we had two episodes in May! In episode 22, Daniel Lenz and Albrecht Mangler chat with Dominique Raccah from Sourcebooks. She explains how she turned a start-up, which she founded from her bedroom, into one of the five major publishers in the US, and how, using data analysis and agile principles, she consistently manages to publish unexpected bestsellers in no time at all and turn her authors into sought-after brands. The episode also covers the importance of alternative distribution channels, protecting the creative process from AI mechanisms, and promoting reading among children. It’s well worth a listen!