The book was filmed for a television series by Joyn/ Sat.1 starring Moritz Bleibtreu. This is awarded by a jury of renowned science journalists on the initiative of Bild der Wissenschaft. Also, Blackout received Germany's 2012 Wissensbuch des Jahres award in the entertainment category.

It has been translated into over a dozen languages. The novel has sold over 1.8 million copies in German-speaking countries alone. At its peak, the book reached second place there in July 2013. In 2013, it was among the iBookstore's '10 books you have to read this summer', and Blackout was also on Spiegel's bestseller list for several years. Bild der Wissenschaft judged that the plot was 'well researched and realistically portrayed'. The book was predominantly positively reviewed among other things the Handelsblatt called it a 'grippingly narrated thriller'. In 2012, Elsberg achieved greater fame with the thriller Blackout – Tomorrow will be too late with the scenario of a widespread collapse of the power supply and its consequences. Other works under his civil name were Menschenteufel (2009) and Wienerherz (2011). In 2004, Emons Verlag in Cologne published Das Prinzip Terz a crime novel in which the eponymous detective must solve the death of the head of an advertising agency while becoming a murderer himself. Clean) published by Espresso-Verlag in Berlin, about a detergent's fictional advertising character becoming president.

Marc Elsberg made his literary debut in 2000, still under his civil name Marcus Rafelsberger, with the satirical novel Saubermann ( Mr. Since 2021, Marc Elsberg has been teaching 'Storytelling' at the University of Applied Arts Vienna as a university lecturer. At the same time, he began to create a column for the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard under the title 'No ad by Marcus Rafelsberger'. He received awards for his work from the Creative Club Austria, among others. Elsberg worked as a strategy consultant and creative director in the advertising industry, among others in Vienna and Hamburg agencies. After graduating in 1985, he began studying industrial design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. They have been translated into numerous languages, sold several million copies worldwide, and made into a series and a film. His works have been published by Blanvalet Verlag of the Penguin Random House publishing group since 2012. Marc Elsberg (born 3 January 1967, in Vienna, real name Marcus Rafelsberger) is a bestselling Austrian author.

Marc elsberg blackout