German publishing trade magazine BuchMarkt will cease publication at the end of 2024 after 59 years in business. The closure of BuchMarkt follows the demise of Buchreport in January this year, leaving Germany with only one major trade magazine, Börsenblatt.
In an interview published on the magazine’s website, BuchMarkt managing director Julian Müller cited falling subscriptions and advertising as key factors in the decision. "The situation for all publishers in the magazine industry is tense," Müller said. "The decline in subscriptions and advertising revenues has made daily work increasingly difficult."
After an uptick from 2019 to 2021, the magazine's revenue fell off, and by the end of 2023 the company was forced to evaluate its future. "At the beginning of February, we finalized the business figures, with the result that we would lose more advertising revenues. Consequently, we couldn't create a financial plan that would have covered the necessary investments and resulted in positive earnings development in the coming years," Müller said.
BuchMarkt had been working on a strategy to reposition itself in the changing media landscape. "We restructured the magazine and had planned the relaunch of buchmarkt.de as an education platform for the Frankfurt Book Fair this year,” Müller said, in the hopes of augmenting editorial and attracting new advertisers. That plan now appears untenable.
In addition to the loss of yet another of its premier trade magazines, one direct consequence of the magazine’s closure for the German book trade will be the need for a new publisher of the Spiegel monthly bestseller lists. The lists, which are the benchmark book bestseller lists in Germany, are 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 lists had been published by Buchreport prior to its closing, and moved to BuchMarkt this year.
Müller said that he is holding out hope for a rescue. "BuchMarkt remains one of the best-known brands in the industry with a very long tradition,” he said, “For me personally, a book industry without BuchMarkt is actually unimaginable, it will certainly take a while for this to be processed."
Müller added that the company does not just need a financial backer, but someone with professional magazine publishing experience and expertise. "We are open to any serious option that would make it possible to continue publishing BuchMarkt. That is still the most fervent wish, that this succeeds," he said.
For now, Müller said that his focus is on supporting his employees and serving subscribers. "Ending well means giving colleagues enough space and time to find a new job where they can start fresh in the new year, but also that we will deliver the magazine to our loyal subscribers until the end," he said.
The magazine plans to publish a commemorative final issue in December.
