Nya spelregler för svenska allmänutgivande bokförlag – digitaliseringens påverkan

Sammanfattning

The purpose of the study has been to gain an understanding of the how digitalisation impacts the organisational work of Swedish general publishing book publishers. The starting point is that digitalization does not only involve new technology but also affects the publishers' organizational work. The empirical material has been collected via qualitative semi structured interviews with representatives from various book publishers. This material has then been analyzed using, among other things, institutional theory, business model theories and concepts such as disruptive innovation and isomorphism. The result shows that the development of digitalization in the industry is perceived as gradual but also inevitable. Digitalization has not only led to publishing in multiple formats becoming standard, but also the content being adapted to work in audio format. The backlist has gone from being dispensable to indispensable in the digital world. At the same time, the status of the physical book has been preserved, which needs to be considered when it comes to attracting authors. The analysis discusses how publishers remain relevant and legitimate by adapting their organisations to the new era, strongly dominated by streaming. Furthermore, the analysis discusses, among other things, publishers’ dependency on streaming services and how the industry’s development is characterised by uniformity. The future digital development is also highlighted, where AI is expected to become the next disruptive innovation.