Germany is the third largest book market in the world, and unlike the saturated English-language markets, there is real room for indie authors to build a loyal readership there. This fully updated second edition shows you exactly how.
We start at the very beginning: which of your books should you translate first? The answer is not always obvious. Get it wrong and it will cost you. Once you have picked your title, we walk through everything you need to know about working with a professional translator: how to find one, what to put in the contract, and what legal protections to be aware of. Did you know every German book needs an Impressum? An interview with a lawyer explains the legal requirements.
We also tackle the question every indie author is asking right now: can you use AI translation tools? Yes, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. New chapters cover the pros and cons of AI-assisted translation, how much human editing an AI translation actually needs, and what the law says about copyright and disclosure. There is also a contributed chapter by a German literary translator on what human expertise brings that AI still cannot.
Once your translation is ready, you will need to decide how to publish it. Direct with retailers, through a distributor, or a mix of both? The German market has its own ecosystem. Amazon.de matters, but so does tolino, which powers over 1,500 independent German bookshops. This guide takes a detailed look at every significant option so you can make an informed choice.
New chapters also cover tolino print books, how to get your titles into German brick-and-mortar stores (and no, Ingram Spark is not how you do it), and audiobooks including tolino distribution and AI narration. The marketing section covers Lovelybooks (Germany’s answer to Goodreads), BookTok for German audiences, how to get reviews, and how to access retailer promotions.
Throughout, you will find real survey data from indie authors already publishing in German, checklists, and exclusive discount codes for tools and services to help keep costs down.
The author of this guide has over 70 German translations published across three genres. Germany is now her biggest market worldwide, more so than the US, more so than anywhere else. This is everything she wishes she had known from the start.
If you have ever wondered whether Germany is worth it: it is. This is how you do it properly.
This is a sample chapter from Self-Publishing in German: New Fully Updated Edition.
Before we dive deeper into the German book market, a quick note about statistics: take them with a pinch of salt. Depending on the source of the data, indie books and eBooks aren’t always included. For example, the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) requires books published in Germany to send them a copy. This doesn’t always happen for print-on-demand and eBooks, meaning if statisticians only rely on data from the German National Library, many indie books won’t be part of their research.
I apologise in advance for the onslaught of numbers you’re about to face. I’m a big fan of statistics, but I know not everyone shares that passion.
The German reading market is undergoing a transformation. While regular book reading has declined overall, younger readers (especially ages 16–29) are becoming increasingly engaged with books and are willing to spend significantly more than older generations – a trend that presents real opportunity for indie authors.
Who reads?
Approximately one in three Germans (35%) regularly dedicates time to reading and picks up a book at least once a week. This represents a decline from 2015 when 44.6% read weekly, reflecting broader trends across Europe. However, German teenagers (aged 12–19) buck this trend: 37% read books daily or several times a week, with particularly strong engagement among ages 16–19, who spend 77% more on books than earlier reader cohorts.
Preferred formats
Print remains dominant and is unlikely to disappear. Across all age groups, printed books are by far the preferred format: 97% of young people aged 10–19 and 96% of those aged 20–29 read physical books.
One visual trend immediately striking to anyone walking into a German bookshop is the prevalence of special-edition books with sprayed edges and foiling — particularly in romance, fantasy and crime fiction. This aesthetic has moved from indie signing events into mainstream bookshops and is well worth knowing about when planning your print editions.
At the same time, eBooks have surged in popularity. The proportion of eBook readers more than doubled between 2019 and 2024, rising from 6% to 14% of the population. Audiobooks are also gaining ground, with Germany recording the highest regular audiobook listening rate in Europe at approximately 10% of the population. This is particularly strong among parents using audiobooks for their children.
An interesting development: 30% of German readers aged 16–19 now regularly read books in their original language (primarily English). The main reasons cited are improving language skills (82%) and the sense that something is “lost in translation” (73%). The good news: 70% still prefer German, and the market for high-quality translations remains strong.
Germany, Austria and Switzerland: Not One Market, Three
It’s easy to think of “the German market” as a single entity — it isn’t. Germany, Austria and Switzerland have meaningfully different reading cultures, and it’s worth knowing how they compare. A 2025 study by YouGov Switzerland (the Galaxus Report) surveyed readers across all three countries plus France and Italy.
Switzerland reads the most. One in two Swiss people reads at least four books a year. Swiss women are particularly voracious — two in three read at least four books annually, and one in four reads more than fifteen. By comparison, only about one in six Germans (16.7%) reads no books at all — the second-highest non-reader rate in the study, alongside France. Austria sits closer to Switzerland at 12.2%.
More than half of Germans (54.8%) say they’d like to read more — but this is the lowest aspiration of the five countries. Austrians are more enthusiastic (56.9%), and Italians the most aspirational of all (73.1%).
Genre differences matter for your translation decisions:
Format differences:
Genre preferences
Crime and thrillers remain the undisputed leaders. These genres have maintained their position as the most popular across the German market for years, and show no signs of losing favour. Readers of all ages engage with crime and thriller fiction, making it a safe choice for translations – though the market is correspondingly competitive.
Romance and fantasy are experiencing remarkable growth, particularly in blended genres. Romantasy – a fusion of romance and fantasy elements – is seeing substantial growth, especially among younger readers aged 13–34, driven partly by the BookTok phenomenon where influencers promote books to large audiences.
Young adult and new adult fiction are now explicitly cited as being “in high demand”. This is not a niche market – the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 dedicated an entire hall to new adult literature, with long queues of young readers waiting for author signings.
Fantasy across all age groups is experiencing unabated appetite, with American and British publishers now actively selling European rights to German publishers for fantasy titles. The genre is evolving with subgenres like queer romantasy and paranormal romance opening new possibilities for authors working in those spaces.
Manga and memoirs are also gaining traction, and non-fiction about science, history and practical topics remains consistently popular.
The fact that backlist titles – books published a year or more ago – now account for 57% of all books sold is a positive sign: it suggests that readers continue to discover and purchase older titles over extended periods, which favours indie translations that may not have the promotional budget of traditionally published releases.
Where do Germans discover new books?
The physical bookshop remains “the No. 1 point of contact for new books among young readers and parents”, particularly independent bookshops in city centres. However, online purchases account for roughly three-quarters of buying behaviour, reflecting a blend of browsing in physical shops and buying digitally. Book blurbs remain the most important factor in a purchasing decision (66% of readers cited this as their primary criterion), and recommendations from friends and family continue to carry weight. Only 6.5% of readers report purchasing books based on advertising, which is important context for your marketing strategy later in this guide.
The German book market has become more digital, yet brick-and-mortar bookstores remain the largest sales channel. Understanding this multi-channel landscape is crucial for indie authors deciding how to publish and market their translations.
Both brick-and-mortar and online channels experienced growth in 2024, a rare occurrence that reflects renewed engagement, particularly among younger readers. For indie authors, this is a compelling opportunity: the market is consolidating around a younger, more engaged demographic that is precisely the audience most likely to discover and embrace indie translations.
Brick-and-mortar bookshops remain dominant
Physical bookstores are still the largest single sales channel, generating €4.08 billion (41.3% of the total market) in 2024, a slight growth of 0.6% from the previous year. Germany has approximately 4,700 brick-and-mortar bookshops, roughly 90% of which are small independent retailers. About one-third of these shops now operate their own online stores, blending physical and digital experiences. An additional 1,300 locations – including supermarkets, petrol stations, railway station kiosks and airport shops – account for €0.94 billion in sales, reflecting Germans’ habit of purchasing books wherever and whenever they encounter them.
Thalia, Germany’s largest bookshop chain, reported particularly impressive growth in financial year 2024/25: €2.2 billion in group sales (a 14% increase), with online now representing 40% of their total revenue. The company operates approximately 400 bookshops across Germany and Austria, plus 60 in Switzerland, and is expanding aggressively with major flagship stores planned for Hamburg and Frankfurt in 2026. Other major chains like Hugendubel remain competitive, and thousands of smaller independent bookstores continue to be a vital part of the ecosystem.
Online book sales are growing rapidly
Online book sales reached €2.51 billion (25.4% of the total market) in 2024, representing a robust 4.4% growth from 2023. Notably, approximately 50% of these online sales are generated through the e-commerce shops of physical bookstores themselves – meaning that chains like Thalia, Hugendubel and local bookshops’ websites account for roughly €1.25 billion of that total. This hybrid model is important to remember: many German readers browse in bookshops and then purchase online, often from the same retailer.
Amazon’s position in the German book market
Amazon’s share of book sales specifically is estimated at 45–55%, though the company notoriously does not disclose precise figures. This differs from Amazon’s overall e-commerce dominance (which exceeds 60% across all product categories), suggesting that books are a more competitive sector for Amazon in Germany than in some other markets. For indie authors, this means that whilst Amazon is essential, it is not the only game in town for eBook sales – and particularly not for print books.
tolino and the eBook market
The tolino alliance – an association of the five largest German book retailers plus approximately 1,500 independent bookshops – continues to be the main competitor to Amazon for eBook sales. tolino maintains an estimated 35–40% of the German eBook market, a significant share that reflects the preference of German retailers and readers to support a local alternative. tolino’s current device lineup includes the Vision 6, Shine 4, and Epos 3 models, and the platform benefits from its integration with many local bookshop networks. We’ll talk more about how to get your books into the tolino ecosystem later in this book.
eBook sales have surged overall: compared to 2019, eBook sales have increased by 49.6%, with a 7.3% year-on-year increase from 2023 to 2024. They now represent approximately 6–7% of the total German book market – still a smaller slice than in English-speaking markets, but growing steadily. Google Play and Apple Books plus a handful of smaller retailers make up the remainder of the eBook market.
Publishers selling direct
Publishers selling directly to corporate customers, institutions (such as schools and libraries) and private customers account for €1.83 billion in sales. This channel is less relevant for indie authors publishing independently translated fiction, but it is worth noting that direct-to-reader sales are possible and may become more attractive as you build a German-speaking readership.
To put all of the above in perspective: Germany’s book market generated over USD 11.3 billion in total revenue in 2024, making it one of the largest publishing markets in the world — alongside English and Chinese, German is one of the three most-printed languages for book publishing globally. The market includes approximately 21,000 companies and 15,000 publishers, and 67,467 new titles were published in 2023 alone.
Germany also plays a dominant role in the wider German-speaking publishing ecosystem. Austria imported USD 312 million worth of printed books from Germany in 2023 (up 20% from 2022). Germany supplies 53% of Switzerland’s imported books — valued at USD 659 million. When you publish in German, you are not just reaching German readers: you are plugging into the publishing infrastructure that supplies the entire German-speaking world.
(Source: trade.gov Germany Publishing report, 2025; Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels)
Want the full guide? Self-Publishing in German: New Fully Updated Edition is funding on Kickstarter until 6 April 2026 — with ebook, paperback, hardcover, and coaching tiers available.