Why should a German language publisher work with New Books in German?

Since 1996 New Books in German is at the side of German publishing, supporting us in licensing our authors to English language publishers

Friederike Barakat, Leitung Rechte und Lizenzen, Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG

NBG is a guarantee of quality. As a publisher, being able to access a curated catalogue like this so easily is extremely helpful. It is like having someone personally picking jewels for you to select from!

Aina Martí, Héloïse Press

A recognised

hallmark

Being selected by our expert juries provides evidence of a book’s suitability for the English language market.

Guaranteed financial assistance

The books selected by our juries are guaranteed financial support for translation if bought by an English language publisher

Visibility, impact and outreach

Boost the chances of your book being picked up, though increased visibility on our website and social media

Who can submit a book?

Austrian, German, and Swiss publishers or agents can submit up to three books per round.
Submissions open twice a year. We are always happy to hear from publishers who have not submitted before. We advise you to read the information on this website and contact us to discuss your submission. Gerne spreche ich per Telefon oder Zoom – Englisch oder Deutsch – über Ihre Einreichung.


The process of applying is straightforward. We ask publishers or agents to send us a manuscript (which does not need to be final) and to fill a short form in online. The form asks you to explain why you are submitting the book to New Books in German, as well as why you think it might succeed internationally. To receive a notification when we are open for submissions, please contact us.

We accept submissions in late October/November for recommendations which we go on to publish in advance of the London Book Fair.  In late April/May, we invite submissions for the recommendations which we publish in advance of the Frankfurt Book Fair


We cannot accept books from authors themselves, the submission needs to be via a publishing house or agent. If an author themselves holds the foreign rights, the book will not be eligible.

What sort of book should we submit?

We welcome fiction and non-fiction titles. We are unable to guarantee funding for non-fiction titles by Austrian authors, so please don’t submit these.

Although you will see some great children’s and young adult books recommended on the site, we are not currently accepting applications in this area.

Translator and member of our UK jury Jamie Bulloch contemplates what might give a book international appeal in this thought-provoking article here.

You can also see which of the books submitted to New Books in German in the last five years have gone on to be translated into English here.

When I consider translations from Germany or elsewhere, I look for books that have stood out, that have won acclaim, that tell a good story and convey something distinctive about the culture or the history or what’s going on in the world

Cal Barksdale
Executive Editor, Arcade Publishing
Editorial Director, Fiction and Literary Nonfiction

How are books selected?

The process is independent and rigorous. We appraise each book at a first jury meeting. To help guard against ‘choosing a book by its cover’ we have dedicated research assistance from literary translators, who research each book.

We commission reader reports on the books which make it through this step. Our readers are translators, academics, editors, or agents. All have a well-developed understanding of the market.

Once the reports from our reviewers are in, the jury convenes for a second time. At these meetings, we make the final selection of books that we will recommend on our website.

“As someone who studied German at university, it’s a particular thrill to read a manuscript in that language (sometimes resorting to the dictionary!) and then publish the author. Bringing books from around the world to American readers, who have been historically underserved with translations, is both a pleasure and a privilege.”

Peter Blackstock, Grove Atlantic

Is there a cost?

There is no cost for submission of books. If we select a book for recommendation on the site, we ask the publisher to pay a fixed fee.

These publisher contributions make up around a fifth of our income. They go towards our running costs including: paying for reader reports; running the website; and administering the project.

To find out more, or to receive a notification when submissions open submit a book, please get in touch info@new-books-in-german.com.

Recent books now in English which have been featured on our site

[book reviews will appear here…]

NBG selections which will shortly be available in English

[book reviews will appear here…]
[book reviews will appear here…]

News

Jury recommendations: autumn 2024

We are very pleased to share our autumn 2024 selection with you. Our expert jury handpicked these fiction and nonfiction titles from a pool of around a hundred submissions submitted to us by their publishers.

read article…

About New Books in German

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News

Delve into articles and interviews about books, publishers, translators, authors and the German language literary field.