ThinkPub will return to Readmagine 26, the international week of digital innovation in reading, books and libraries, organised by Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez (FGSR) at Casa del Lector in Madrid.
This year’s edition will take place from 26 to 28 May 2026 under the theme “Reading Between the Lines”. The subtitle invites participants to look beyond visible trends and identify the deeper transformations that are already reshaping the book sector, reading habits and publishing strategies. By focusing on these latent shifts, Readmagine 26 aims to help European publishers better understand the challenges ahead and develop practical responses to a rapidly changing cultural and technological environment.
Readmagine has long been one of Europe’s leading meeting points for forward-thinking professionals in the book sector. Since its first edition in 2006, it has brought the world of books into dialogue with digital media, design, marketing, audiovisual storytelling, libraries, education, gaming and emerging technologies. Its cross-disciplinary spirit is rooted in the belief that innovation often emerges at the intersection of different fields, practices and ways of thinking.
Programme highlights
This year’s edition will retain several established Readmagine sessions that have become important annual reference points for the European book industry. These include Rüdiger Wischenbart’s presentation on a disruptive trend in the book world over the past year and Enrico Turrin’s presentation of European book market data, both offering valuable insight into broader sectoral developments.
The first day of the programme will focus on two major themes: new marketing strategies for the book sector in a fully digital context and current developments in academic publishing. The marketing strand will open with practical workshops on visual communication, online advertising tools and TikTok workflows, followed by roundtables on internet marketing for small publishing houses and the role of communities in marketing. The day will also include a conversation between Michael Tamblyn and Nadim Sadek on the use of AI in book marketing.
The afternoon programme will turn towards academic and scholarly publishing, with discussions on Open Access Books, AI, and the Future of Scholarly Publishing, featuring Inés Ter Horst from Princeton University Press, Todd Carpenter from NISO and Pierre Mounier from OPERAS, moderated by Jaime Iván Hurtado. Further panels will address the challenges of science publishing and the movement towards more open and accessible science for society.
The second day will examine some of the most urgent structural questions currently facing the European book industry. Sessions will include a roundtable on the European legal framework for the book industry, with contributions from Jessica Sanger from Börsenverein, Giulia Marangoni from AIE and Catherine Blache from SNE, moderated by Dolores Sancha from Penguin Random House. Other discussions will focus on collaborative models for new publishing groups, adaptations from book to screen, and transfrontier publishing, including contributions from publishing and rights professionals from across Europe and beyond. The afternoon will be dedicated to presentations of innovative business models.
On Thursday, the programme will continue with Rüdiger Wischenbart’s annual trend presentation and a session by Professor Formiga on the Italian book market. Further discussions will explore the British and Spanish models for promoting reading, new forms of social reading, and partnerships in an AI-driven environment, with speakers from organisations such as Simon & Schuster International, OverDrive, PocketBook, Shimmr, StreetLib and Supadü. As on the previous day, the afternoon will include presentations of innovative publishing projects.
Together, the programme integrates recent responses from the book industry with new data on audience transformation, offering a timely overview of the forces currently changing the European publishing landscape.
ThinkPub at Readmagine
For ThinkPub, Readmagine 26 will once again provide an important platform for knowledge exchange, professional training and sectoral reflection. Several sessions have been designed around ThinkPub’s thematic pillars, addressing the learning needs of European publishers in areas such as marketing innovation, AI, EU regulation, European book markets, collaboration strategies, cross-border publishing, translation markets and emerging publishing models.
The morning programme on Tuesday will focus specifically on content creation and marketing for small and medium-sized publishers in Europe. Selected video materials from this programme will later be integrated into the ThinkPub Library of Digital Learning Objects, making the knowledge shared at Readmagine accessible to a wider community of publishing professionals across Europe.
Most of the sessions taking place on Wednesday and Thursday have also been shaped around the practical needs of European publishers: understanding new regulations, navigating different book markets, developing collaborative strategies among small and medium-sized publishers, strengthening cross-border cooperation, reflecting on the current state of translation markets, and presenting innovative publishing proposals.
Registration
Participation in Readmagine 26 is free of charge, but attendance must be confirmed in advance in order to help the organisers manage event resources efficiently.
Confirm your participation in Readmagine 26 here:
https://forms.boletines.fundaciongsr.org/5ab41358b85b5350ef1d011a/tCsebjgEQ8OMVQR9oWazaQ/form.html
The full three-day programme is available here:
https://readmagine.org/programme-26/
The ThinkPub project is co-financed by the European Union under the Creative Europe programme.