A rush of publishing start-ups and ever new ways to lure readers was a central theme at one of the world's biggest book fairs opening in Germany in early October.

Faced with competition from online giant, Amazon, publishers face an "imperative to be big", organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair say, pointing to this year's merger to create Penguin Random House.

But the flipside is that start-ups are springing up as continental Europe now follows in the footsteps of Britain and the United States, with all eyes on the newcomers shaping the future and hunting for a viable business model.