With Insight Partners on board, Bookwire has entered a new chapter. What will change – and what will remain the same?

First of all, we’re very proud to have earned the trust of so many publishers around the world since John and I founded Bookwire 16 years ago. Together with our outstanding team, we are now able to partner with such a prestigious and successful technology investor.

With our new partner and shareholder, we now have access to growth capital and deep expertise in developing and scaling a software company like Bookwire. Growing and scaling a company the right way is not always easy; it requires the right partner, and we deliberately chose Insight Partners over other attractive offers.

At the same time, not much has changed: John and I continue to lead Bookwire together with Christian, our COO, and we remain significant shareholders.

The Zebralution acquisition significantly increases Bookwire’s scale. How does that benefit publishers, and why does scale matter in a market shaped by global platforms?

We are very focused on doing the best possible job for all our customers, just as Zebralution has done over the years. With Bookwire OS, our strong technology platform, we can bring even more functionality and a much higher level of automation to Zebralution’s customer base, which I believe will be a real benefit.

In general, I believe that reaching a certain scale is important if you want to compete in a market shaped by large platforms across the value chain. A larger market share allows us to invest more in innovation and, of course, makes us a more relevant player internationally.

What does the CB integration in the Netherlands demonstrate about the flexibility of Bookwire OS – and could this model be replicated in other markets?

The partnership with CB is a special model: CB remains the customer-facing distributor in the Dutch market, while Bookwire OS handles the domestic and global digital distribution workflows in the background. The two systems are connected through APIs, with highly automated and standardized processes. Going forward, we’ll be able to offer Dutch publishers more global business opportunities and also provide more foreign-language content to the Dutch market. For us, this shows very clearly how flexible and scalable Bookwire OS has become – and yes, we can certainly imagine using a similar collaboration model in other markets.

What does the U.S. market represent for Bookwire today – and how important could it become to the company’s future growth?

For many years, we were quite cautious about expanding seriously into the U.S. market. But over the past three years, we have gained a lot of good clients, built a strong team on the ground, and adapted our solution to the requirements of the U.S. market. I feel we are now in a very good position for further growth. The potential for Bookwire in the U.S. is huge, although we have always preferred to build things step by step. In the long run, I can definitely see the U.S. becoming one of our biggest markets – maybe even the biggest at some point.

How do you see the market for Arabic digital content developing – and what role can digital distribution play in connecting publishers with readers across the region and worldwide?

We have a very good partnership with Arabookverse, and we support each other in expanding the reach and visibility of Arabic digital content. I strongly believe in the potential of emerging digital publishing markets, and in this region we can already see that audio is becoming very important. For me, this is one of the exciting parts of global publishing: producing and distributing audiobooks in more languages and helping these markets develop step by step. Digital distribution can really help connect publishers with readers across different countries – and with Arabic-speaking readers around the world.

What was Bookwire’s role in MEC Livros – the Brazilian Ministry of Education’s digital library – and what potential do government-backed digital platforms have to expand readership in Brazil?

Together with Skeelo, which provided the technology platform for MEC Livros, we were able to contribute on the content side of the project. Our role was mainly to bring in the right titles and to get Brazilian publishers on board for this new platform. If the platform helps grow readership in Brazil, especially among young readers, this can become something really meaningful. Of course, whenever governments become active in the publishing market, you need to find the right balance. But so far, in this case, I mainly see a huge opportunity for the Brazilian publishing community to expand readership and bring new and young readers and listeners closer to books and audiobooks.

Bookwire’s latest Spanish Market Report identifies audiobooks as the fastest-growing digital format. Where do you see the greatest growth opportunities for audiobooks – and which markets still have the most untapped potential?

The Spanish book market has developed very strongly in recent years, but I still think audio has not reached its full potential in many countries, including Spain. For an audio market to really grow, you need a large catalogue of available audiobooks and also a good variety of audio platforms for listeners to choose from. In some emerging audio markets, these conditions are still developing. I see especially strong potential in France, Italy and Brazil, but also in many Spanish-speaking markets.

How can Bookwire’s partnership with ElevenLabs make more books available in audio – particularly titles and languages that traditional production may not economically support?

The idea behind this partnership is to make many more books available in audio, especially titles that would normally never be produced because the production costs are too high. Smaller languages can benefit a lot from this. Personally, I would love to see every book available in audio one day. Publishers can opt in and allow ElevenLabs to create auto-narrated versions of books that would not otherwise exist as audiobooks. It will be very interesting to see how much demand this generates. And it’s important to say that our publishers always remain in the driver’s seat. Nothing happens without their consent. It also does not change our view on the role and importance of high-quality human-narrated audiobooks. Both will co-exist.

How is Bookwire helping publishers identify the innovations and new channels that can genuinely support their businesses?

We try to keep our eyes open for innovations that can really help publishers and move the market forward. This can include new channels, such as government or telco sales in Brazil, or collaborations like the one with ElevenLabs to make more books available in audio. It can also include something like Fabely, our growing audiobook discovery platform, which helps listeners find their next audiobook. And of course, we work very closely with all relevant audiobook platforms, provide them with the best possible selection of audiobooks and support them with whatever they need to curate and present content in the best possible way.

Looking ahead, which developments at Bookwire excite you most – and where do you see the biggest opportunities emerging?

Let me pick two things that I personally find very exciting. The first is how our users’ interaction with the platform will change. We will offer more AI-driven functionality – for example, a GPT-like chatbot that can support users in areas like data and performance analytics or help them find the right pricing in the future. I think we will increasingly get used to asking questions and letting AI point us to the things we should really look at. The second area is AI licensing. We are working hard to build a new revenue stream for content used by AI platforms. We have already done a few very interesting deals, but the bigger mission is to make this a steady and fair source of revenue for publishers. For me, this will be one of the key challenges of the coming years.

Before publishing, you worked in music. What lessons from that industry’s digital transformation can publishing apply today?

Well, by now, I have worked longer in publishing than I did in music. But I am still impressed by how the music industry managed to reinvent monetization through streaming and even grow the market again. I think publishing can learn a lot from that, especially when it comes to audiobook streaming models. At the same time, music also shows how important it is to have a diverse retail and platform landscape. That is something we should keep in mind if we want a healthy audiobook market.