The Estonian stand at the 2025 London Book Fair. The market arrives at the end of March as the guest of honor nation at Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Jarosław Adamowksi | @JaroslawAdamows
The Growing Preference for English-Language Trade Titles
The Estonian book publishing market has been brightly represented at the just-closed London Book Fair this week by a prominently placed stand and the nation’s name in neon.
Now, with barely two weeks to make the transition, Estonia is to be guest of honor at the 62nd Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 31 to April 3).
Last year, according to industry players, was a relatively stable one for Estonia’s book market, as it generated results similar to those reported for 2023.
But the industry is noticing a growing trend spotted in many parts of Europe. The Netherlands, Germany, and others are reporting growing demands from younger consumers for English-language books, not translations of them.
As in other markets, some local publishers in Estonia are concerned the trend could undermine their sales in the future.
The publishing industry in Estonia, a Baltic state with a population of around 1.4 million inhabitants, is dominated by titles released in Estonian, a Finno-Ugric language that’s part of the same family of languages as Hungarian and Finnish.
However, Russian speakers make up some 27.4 percent of Estonia’s population, and this means the domestic market for books published in Estonian draws substantially less than the full population at best, even before the demand for English books is factored in.
Kadri Rahusaar, a board member of the Estonian Publishers’ Association (EKL) and the editor-in-chief of the publishing house Koolibri, tells Publishing Perspectives that 2024 was a year of stability for Estonia’s book industry.
“Sales figures remained similar to those of 2023,” she says, “meaning a feared collapse didn’t occur. Some publishing houses saw an improvement, while others faced challenges, but all managed to sustain themselves.
“In Estonia,” Rahusaar says, “local authors consistently outsell foreign ones, regardless of their international fame or bestseller status. Among the most popular Estonian authors last year were Urmas Vadi and Sven Mikser, the latter of whom is also a member of the European Parliament. He released his debut novel.”
Kadri Rahusaar
“As for foreign authors,” Rausaar says, “the top-selling book was the ubiquitous It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. The overall bestseller of the year, however, she says, was Chuck Norris Jokes.
“That said,” according to Rahusaar, “print runs are steadily declining.”
The latest available data collected by the publishers’ association, indicates that, in 2023, a total of 3,169 books were published in the Estonian language. This represented a decrease of 5.4 percent compared with the 3,349 titles released a year earlier, but last year’s tally was an increase from the 3,152 books published in 2021.
In 2023, the industry statistics show, the average print run was 648 copies. In 2022, the average print run was 755, and in 2021, 837 copies.
In 2023, books in Estonia were published by 722 companies. Forty-five publishers (6 percent) published more than 10 titles and 509 publishers (70 percent) published only one title.
Estonian workplaces and classrooms are largely multilingual, with close to 50 percent using both Estonian and Russian, and some 25 percent also using English.
An aggregate 84 percent of the country’s population surveyed reports an active or passive use of English, as shown by figures collected by the state-run broadcaster ERR.
‘No Clear Trend’
As is the case for publishers in a growing number of other nations, this relatively high level for a command of English is a challenge for at least some of the nation’s publishing houses.
“There’s no clear trend among Estonian readers,” says Rahusaar, although the clarity of that trend may sharpen for her and her colleagues soon, as other nations’ publishers find the pace of English-language reading increasing rapidly and throwing some confusion into translation-rights trading.
Related article: ‘The English-Language Exports Issue.’ Piper Verlag’s Felicitas von Lovenberg speaks at the Scuola per Librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri (UEM) in Venice. Image: Fondazione Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri, Yuma Martellanz
Many younger readers, have started reading more and more in English, as English-language books are often more affordable and translations into Estonian take time to be published,” Rahusaar says.
Koolibri focuses its publishing activities on textbooks, workbooks, and children’s books, releasing only around 10 titles for adults per year.
In 2024, the publishing house’s bestsellers were, unsurprisingly, children’s books, she says, particularly those with interactive elements such as sound panels, pop-ups, flaps, and magnets. “Some of our long-standing educational reprints remain popular, as they have been for decades,” she says.
Asked about the company’s performance last year, Rahusaar says that 2024 was a solid year for Koolibri.
“Our most significant milestones included the release of new textbooks, particularly a history textbook for the fifth grade by renowned historian and broadcaster Maarja Merivoo-Parro. This was a major event for us, as Koolibri had not had a new history textbook for years.
“Another highlight was the publication of a new ABC book — an Estonian-language textbook for first graders,” she says.
“The ABC book is the most important schoolbook in Estonia,” Rahusaar says, “traditionally given to every new pupil on his or her first school day, and it holds a special place in the hearts of Estonians.
“We began preparing this book five years ago, with the text written by Kairi Look, currently Estonia’s leading children’s books author.”
No word on whether she has considered publishing an English-language edition.
More from Publishing Perspectives on rights trading in the international marketplace is here, our Rights Roundup series is here, more on Bologna Children’s Book Fair is here, more on children’s books is here, more on the Italian market is here, more on world publishing’s trade shows and book fairs is here, more on Estonia is here, and more on guest of honor programs is here.
About the Author
