Polski rynek książki 2015. Zamrożona transformacja cyfrowa

Abstrakt

THE POLISH BOOK MARKET 2015. A FROZEN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The aim of the paper is to assess the impact of electronic books on the Polish book market, including publishers’ off ering and organisation of work. The main method of obtaining information used by the author was in-depth interviews based on a structured scenario. The interviews were conducted with representatives of fifteen companies from various segments of the market offering electronic publications. The author attempted to established the moment of each publisher’s entry into the e-publication market, type of the publisher, ways of distributing the files, the production process, attitude of the publisher to digital publications. An analysis of the information obtained has demonstrated considerable differences in the speed of adoption of new book formats by the various segments of the market. The strongest turn to digital content concerns educational and specialist literature. Publishers of fiction and books for children have reached a state which satisfies readers. They are reluctant to experiment further with digital content because of the high cost of its production and low profits, and in the case of children’s literature — because of the belief of some adult customers that e-publications are not books. However, there is evidence to suggest that publishers deliberately do not support the development of the e-publication market and even hamper it, e.g. by failing to provide information about non-printed book formats on their websites. Yet it should be acknowledged that in recent years everyone has acquired at least basic knowledge of the opportunities created by e-publications and limitations of their production and distribution. Publishers’ employees have acquired basic competences, contacts with technology companies and file distributors have been established. The publishers are now waiting for further developments.