Amazon Publishing is starting a new German-language publishing program that will be based in Munich under the direction of publisher Sarah Tomashek. According to Amazon, the “European Amazon Publishing team will acquire German-language fiction for publication in Kindle and print editions available on Amazon websites.” Amazon has acquired 12 titles to date for the program.
The debut list, set for this spring, has four titles so far, including Klang der Gezeiten (The Sound of the Tides), a new work of contemporary fiction by Emily Bold, who is published in the U.S. by Amazon Publishing. Also on the list is a new murder mystery by Alexander Hartung that features Berlin police investigator Jan Tommen, and a new edition of the first book in the Jan Tommen series, Bis alle Schuld beglichen (Until All Debts Are Cleared). New York für Anfängerinnen (New York for Beginners), a comedic novel by FOCUS Magazine New York bureau chief Susann Remke rounds out the list.
Amazon said the success of English editions of German titles through its AmazonCrossings imprint encouraged the company to broaden its German-language program, noting that many of the titles first released in Germany will be published in English-language editions by AmazonCrossings. The company’s most successful German-language translation has been The Hangman’s Daughter, which Amazon said has sold over one million copies in combined print, audio and Kindle English-language editions worldwide. Amazon said it intends to "make print books available to any booksellers that would like to carry them."
"We’re excited to expand the opportunities we can provide to German authors by acquiring and publishing works in German, building on the success we have had bringing top German authors to English-language readers through our AmazonCrossing translation imprint," said Sarah Jane Gunter, Amazon’s director of international publishing
