Winning a lot of awards for beautiful books is one thing – commercial success is something else. What effect have your awards had on sales?
The awards are an important (marketing) resource for maintaining our presence. They do a lot to help us maintain our positive image and they are no doubt partly responsible for making Kösel renowned for high-quality and special books – at least in German-speaking countries, but also in many other European countries as well.
How many books do you publish each year?
13 million.
How has this figure changed over the last ten years?
It has remained relatively constant.
How many titles do these 13 million books represent?
Around 3,500.
What percentage is hardcover and what percentage softcover?
These two areas are about the same, and the ratio hasn’t changed much over the past few years.
How have print runs changed over the last ten years?
They’ve fallen by about 10% – much less than the book market as a whole.
What do you think the next ten years will bring with respect to print runs?
I believe they will continue to fall. But this is due in part to the fact that – driven by investments in digital printing – we will be able to take on orders in the future that we previously wouldn't have.
Who are your customers?
We operate in three business segments: publishing production (which makes up 65% of our revenue volume), corporate publishing (20%) and bookbindery services (15%).
In 2017, you visited seven German and Swiss cities as part of the Kösel roadshow whose theme was “Color Management in Book Production.” Why exactly did you hold these events and what was the public response to them?
There were two main focal points. The first was data processing in the pre-press area, and the second was the new standard offset printing process, based on the new DIN standard 12647-2, which has created a lot of uncertainty in the market. The response to our events was very positive and we managed to present ourselves as a specialist in this area. We had another roadshow this autumn, this time taking bookbinding as our theme. We let participants take a look behind the scenes and talked openly and critically about potential stumbling blocks and pitfalls.
Three years ago, you commenced operations with Kösel JuraJET, a digital printing system for lightweight printing that you designed in conjunction with printing press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer. What were some of the technical difficulties you encountered during development and what products do you print on it?
We didn’t want a machine that was already available on the market. Instead, we wanted to cover a segment that other companies could not or did not want to cover. We focus on lightweight printing and now print as little as 36 grams per square meter on the Kösel JuraJET. We are targeting a weight of as low as 33 grams. This presents a few challenges related to printing technique and print finishing that need to be resolved. With respect to printing technique, the ink drops need to stay on the surface and not penetrate too deeply into the substrate (the keyword here is “pre-coating”). We have devised a new print finishing concept that makes it possible to produce both perfect-bound books and signatures for thread sewing. This is a unique feature that doesn't exists anywhere on the market. We are capable of producing signatures for thread sewing – and we can do so in variable strengths. They can have 32, 40, 48, 56 or 64 pages and be integrated in the book. Similarly, several years ago, we worked with Muller Martini to develop the Frontero front trimmer. It’s always especially fun when manufacturers are open to receiving feedback from their customers in a collaborative manner.
Do you use other machines for digital printing?
No, we do all of our digital printing on the Kösel JuraJET.
Speaking of digital, but in a different context: In your view, what is the greatest advantage of a printed book compared to an e-book?
We’re starting to get very philosophical there. Personally, I find a printed book easier. I find it more pleasant, but ultimately it’s a question of how we learned to read – in other words, it’s a matter of habit. But it would be wrong to say the same thing of the younger generation. However, I do find it more pleasant to read a large chunk of text on paper. By contrast, smartphones and tablets are vastly superior for short bits of information. But they’re not so great for reading larger amounts of text, such as novels. So I still see the advantage of printed books.
Worldwide, the e-book share of the overall market has been stagnant over the past three years and in some countries – including the US – it has even fallen, with printed books benefiting from the decline. What do you think are the reasons behind this retro trend?
The trend appears to have stopped. But the more interesting question for me is: Will future generations still want to read a text all at once? The way people absorb information is changing. I think the traditional book has been transformed somewhat into a luxury item. It will no longer be a medium for mass entertainment.
Is this why additional features are increasingly being added to your books in line with your company philosophy?
Precisely. This is the conclusion we have come to.
The overall market share of e-books is four times lower in Germany than it is in the US. Why do the Germans love print so much?
I think Germans are generally more conservative than Americans. Personally, I don’t really see an enormous benefit in e-books – except that I can take a lot of books with me in a compact and lightweight form when I go on vacation. But I don’t really find reading an e-book to be advantageous.