Penguin Random House | Munich, 05/14/2019

From an Evening Stroll Through the Publishing Building To a Podium Discussion

Verlagsgruppe Random House accompanied this year’s World Book Day with various events. On May 7, they invited visitors to attend a podium discussion about book marketing as part of the “Woche der Münchner Verlage” (Week of the Munich Publishers). On May 8, the publisher CBJ organized a magical reading night, and on May 9 there was a reading from the World Book Day book.

The UNESCO World Book Day is a welcome occasion for publishers around the world to celebrate the joy of reading. Since this day happened to be in the middle of the Easter holidays in Germany this year, Verlagsgruppe Random House in Munich organized its various World Book Day events last week instead of on April 23.

On May 7, it invited visitors to a podium discussion about “Cover, Poster, Social Media – How Readers Influence Book Marketing” as part of the “Woche der Münchner Verlage” (Week of the Munich Publishers).  With 120 guests, the event was totally booked. The participants of the podium discussion, which included Astrid Böhmisch, Marketing Director at Piper, Sonja Assfalg, Advertising Manager of the publishers CBJ and CBT, Publisher Julia Eisele and bookseller Mechthild Heinen, were as colorful a mix as the audience, which included bibliographers, people from the publishing world and numerous visitors from other industries. After Claudia Limmer, Head of Corporate Communications and Member of the Board of Verlagsgruppe Random House welcomed the guests, host Cornelia Zetzsche opened the lively discussion round. “We have to go where readers and buyers move around!” was their motto.

On May 8, the children’s and youth book publisher CBJ also organized an extraordinary premiere: a magical reading night. Towards evening, a group of 30 children, accompanied by several parents, teachers and booksellers, got comfortable in one of the publisher’s offices. Equipped with blankets, cuddle toys and flashlights, they listened to CBJ author Thomas Montasser, who not only introduced his new book titled “Die magische Lesenacht” (The Magical Reading Night), but in fact did a truly magical reading night with the children. After the first part of the reading, they took an “evening stroll”. With their flashlights, they walked through the dark corridors of the archive in the basement, the long hallways, and stairways up to the roof of the publishing building. In the end, the reading continued in the dark editorial office of CBJ. In addition to the author, several children and teachers participated in the reading to lend different voices to the characters.

On May 9, school classes visited Verlagsgruppe Random House to listen to CBJ author Thilo and watch illustrator Timo Brubing during a reading from the World Book Day book “Der geheime Kontinent” (The Secret Continent). Afterwards, the children asked many questions of both artists. Interested participants were able to attend the event not only in the publishing building but also via a live broadcast online at litlounge.tv and the social media presentations of CBJ, Stiftung Lesen, the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, and Deutsche Post.