Mohrbooks Literary Agency

What Mohrbooks Literary Agency does

Mohrbooks Literary Agency, formally Mohrbooks AG Literary Agency, is a Zürich-based literary agency founded in the 1930s that mediates translation and licensing rights between authors and publishers. It operates a dual-sided model: representing German-speaking authors for foreign-language rights in international markets, while simultaneously serving as the exclusive German-market agent for a roster of international publishers and literary agencies. Its disclosed client roster includes most of the global publishing majors (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, W.W. Norton, Allen & Unwin, Atria, Berkley), making it a structurally important node in the DACH translation rights market.

The company's core product is a digital rights catalog of approximately 1,106 titles accessible via its website, organized by BIC classification, contributor, and team. The catalog is powered by Rightsdesk, a third-party rights management platform, indicating no proprietary technology stack of meaningful scale. The business earns revenue through commissions on licensing deals between rights holders and licensees; no alternative pricing models or public fee schedules are disclosed. Marketing activity is concentrated on the company website and a news blog that highlights author milestones, bestseller placements, and prize recognitions.

Operationally, the firm runs with 11–50 employees from a single Zürich headquarters at Hofackerstrasse 13a, and is registered as a Swiss Aktiengesellschaft. It maintains an administrative and consulting support layer for partner agencies across the German-speaking region, extending its reach beyond direct client relationships. The firm is privately held with no disclosed parent company, shareholders, or external funding.

Name

Mohrbooks Literary Agency

Legal name

Mohrbooks AG Literary Agency

Website

https://mohrbooks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1930

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mohrbooks Literary Agency is a Zürich-based literary agency founded in the 1930s that mediates translation rights between German-speaking authors and international publishers, and represents foreign publishers in the German market. It serves a roster of Big-Five publishers and 1,106+ catalog titles under a commission-based model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Agency Services

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313), Other Publishers (51319)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Rights, ISBN & Publishing Administration Services (Identifiers, Metadata, Royalties) (MPAJAJAK)

Keywords

• Literary agency services
• Translation rights representation
• Author advisory services
• Publishing rights licensing
• German-language publishing mediation

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Commission on Rights Sales: Mohrbooks earns revenue by representing authors and selling their publishing rights to publishers. As a literary agency, they mediate license rights and earn commissions on successful transactions between rights holders (authors) and licensees (publishers).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Mohrbooks Literary Agency is a traditional literary agency that mediates translation and publishing license rights between authors and publishers. As an exclusive partner, it represents international publishers and agencies in the German-language market and represents German-speaking authors in foreign-language markets. The agency advises authors on creating marketable projects and provides administrative and consulting support to partner agencies in German-speaking regions.

Product overview

Mohrbooks Literary Agency operates as a single unified platform offering digital catalog and rights management services for international publishing rights. The core product is the online rights catalog, which features approximately 1,106 titles from German and international publishers, organized using BIC categories including Fiction, Children's/Teenage/Educational, Biography, Society, Health, and other genres. The digital catalog enables browsing by category, contributor, team, and publication date. Founded in the 1930s, the agency has operated continuously as a specialized intermediary for international publishing rights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Author Representation Services Representation of German-speaking authors for licensing of their works in foreign-language markets, including advisory on creating marketable projects and mediation of works to publishers domestically and internationally. Intended for German-speaking authors seeking professional rights representation.
• International Publisher and Agency Representation Exclusive representation of international publishers and literary agencies in the German market, facilitating translation rights sales to German-language publishers. Intended for international publishing houses and literary agencies without in-house German-market operations.
• Partner Agency Support Services Administrative and consulting support for partner agencies in the German-speaking region across all areas of agency activity. Intended for partner literary agencies operating in German-speaking territories.
• Digital Rights Catalog Online catalog of approximately 1,106 titles from international publishers, allowing users to browse titles by BIC classification, contributor, team, and publication date. Integrated with Rightsdesk for backend rights management. Intended for publishers and licensing professionals seeking rights-cleared titles.

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Allen & UnwincoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAustralian independent publisher represented by Mohrbooks for German-language rights in the German-speaking market
• Penguin Random HousecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOne of the world's largest publishing houses represented by Mohrbooks for German-language rights
• HarperCollinscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor international publisher represented by Mohrbooks for German-language rights
• HachettecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFrench publishing group represented by Mohrbooks for German-language rights
• Simon & SchustercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAmerican publishing company represented by Mohrbooks for German-language rights
• W.W. NortoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent American publisher represented by Mohrbooks for German-language rights
• PartneragenturencoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner agencies in German-speaking regions that receive administrative and consulting support from Mohrbooks in all areas of agency activity

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Andrew Nurnberg Associates: Largest German-anchored literary agency representing international publishers in the German market and German authors abroad; operates the same dual-sided translation rights model as Mohrbooks and is the most direct competitor.
• Peter Molden / Schlück & Friends (merged Thomas Schlück group): Group of translation-rights agencies in Germany serving publishers and authors across European and global rights transactions; comparable in agency services and customer overlap.
• The Susijn Agency: International literary agency focused on foreign translation rights between European languages and English; comparable in services offered (rights licensing, representation) even if centered outside DACH.
• Liepman AG: Swiss literary agency also based in the DACH region offering translation rights mediation between international publishers and German-speaking publishers; overlaps directly with Mohrbooks on agency representation and rights administration.
• Thomas Schlück Agency: Hamburg-based literary agency operating in translation rights between German and international publishers; directly competes with Mohrbooks in foreign rights representation.
• Hanser Literaturagentur: German literary agency affiliated with Carl Hanser Verlag, representing authors and publishers across translation rights in German-speaking and international markets.
• Agence Literaire Astor-Pia: Independent German literary agency working in translation rights and author representation across German and international markets; overlaps with Mohrbooks in the rights-administration segment.

Broad incumbents

• Penguin Random House: One of the world's largest trade publishers and a key counterparty for Mohrbooks; operates internal foreign-rights teams that compete with independent agencies on title-by-title contracts.
• HarperCollins: Major international trade publisher that Mohrbooks represents for German-language rights; relevant as a counterpart/partner and as a benchmark for the rights and translation book market more broadly.
• Curtis Brown & Co. Established UK literary agency offering author representation and translation rights; broader in geography (primarily English-language) but overlaps with Mohrbooks on the international publisher side of cross-border rights deals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mohrbooks
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mohrbooks-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mohrbooks Literary Agency