German book trade magazine Buchreport has ceased publication indefinitely. The magazine was known for sharp reporting as well as compiling the bestseller lists published in the Spiegel magazine, the most widely read and respected book bestseller lists in Germany.
The absence leaves Germany with two major trade magazines: BuchMarkt and Börsenblatt, the official trade magazine of Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, the German Booksellers and Publishers Association.
BuchMarkt has announced that it is the new publisher of the Spiegel monthly bestseller lists. The lists will be published in collaboration with eBuch, an association of 850 independent bookstores, and Media Control (MC Metis), a firm that tracks sales from over 9,000 points of sale in Germany.
The demise of Buchreport comes as a result of the December bankruptcy filing of the magazine's parent company, Harenberg Kommunikation. The magazine had been up for sale, but apparently found no buyers.
Harenberg Kommunikation was acquired in 2021 from Spiegel by Cologne publisher Timo Busch and his partners, owners of the Busch Glatz Group. It was among several media companies acquired by Busch in recent years, including S&L Medien Group and the magazines Blickpunkt:Film, MusikWoche, and Gamesmarkt, all of which have filed for bankruptcy.
