In the lead-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair, Munich-based self-publishing platform BookRix is launching a new subscription app for readers with a three-tiered pricing model. BookRix and its parent company StreetLib are positioning the app as a comprehensive publishing and distribution platform, designed to support both emerging self-published authors and established publishers.
The app represents a strategic evolution for BookRix, which launched as a creative community in 2008 and has grown alongside the professionalization of self-publishing. After joining StreetLib in early 2024, BookRix refocused and launched BookRix Community (BxC), an online platform where authors and readers can interact around stories, as well as the new mobile subscription app, which was developed in partnership with Norway's Beat Technology, a white-label ebook and audiobook distribution company.
The subscription service launches next month on iOS and Android in German-speaking markets, with plans to expand to Italy in January 2026. It will offer three pricing tiers: a free tier featuring self-published (or "community") content that passes the company's criteria and safeguards; a basic subscription at €5.99 monthly including VAT for broader community and indie publisher content from StreetLib's distribution network; and a premium tier at €8.99 monthly with a curated catalog of new releases and top sellers from partner publishres and self-publishers.
BookRix currently offers 15,000 titles for sale from 6,000 authors who generated sales in the last 12 months, with an additional 12,000 authors active on the community platform who have published stories on BookRix but not through traditional distribution channels.
BookRix CEO Johannes Conrady said the launch reflects how dramatically the publishing landscape has changed. "Within the lifespan of BookRix, self-publishing has risen and professionalized, and digital publishing has changed," Conrady said. "To enable authors and independent publishers—established as well as a new wave of creative storytellers—publishing platforms have to evolve."
The company offers a royalty model that distributes a significant share of net revenue from paid subscribers to authors and publishers based on consumption. BookRix aims to create "a more attractive and fair margin model for authors and publishers compared to traditional distribution channels," the company said in a statement.
Nathan Hull, Beat Technology's CSO, added, "Seeing our tech stack move from trade publishing also into the exciting realms of a self-publishing community such as BookRix has been a rewarding journey. We firmly believe in the commercial viability and the creativity of self-publishing, and can't wait to have this app up and running with the BookRix community."
StreetLib CEO Giacomo D'Angelo framed the initiative in terms of cultural diversity and access. "BookRix is where digital innovation meets human creativity, bringing diverse stories to readers everywhere," D'Angelo said. "Our mission is to give every storyteller the chance to be heard and every reader the chance to discover diverse voices that inspire, connect and celebrate our shared cultural diversity."
