From Publishers to Self-Publishing: The Disruptive Effects of Digitalisation on the Book Industry

Abstract

This paper explores the structure of the book publishing industry postdigitalisation. We argue that the introduction of successful e-book readers has belatedly given digitalisation the characteristics of a disruptive technology by making self-publishing a serious option for authors. This has been supported by the entry of new types of intermediaries and the strengthening of others. These changes have reduced the overall complexities for an author to get a book self-published. As a result, a larger share of the surplus from the book industry is likely going to authors, explaining the significant increase in the supply of books. The potential oversupply of books has created a new problem by making consumer search more difficult. We argue that digitalisation has shifted the potential market failure from inadequate supply of books to asymmetric information about quality. It remains to be seen whether the market will provide appropriate intermediaries to solve the associated asymmetric information problem and, if not, what appropriate interventions should be contemplated.

Creators' Income Situation in the Digital Age

“…At the same time, online consumption might differ from previous consumption patterns offline, favoring some artists over others (for example, Datta et al 2018). And, competition levels and stakeholders' bargaining positions in value chains might also be changing and, ultimately, affect the incentives to create and distribute new content, once there is 'disintermediation' or entry of new stakeholders to markets (Hviid et al 2017a(Hviid et al , 2017b. Each of these aspects of digital change has its own implications for the distribution of income and level changes over time and needs to be confirmed by further empirical research.…”

“…Indicators of quality, such as consumers' usage and ratings of works, evidence stable or even increasing quality of supply (Waldfogel 2016(Waldfogel , 2017b. At the same time, arguably, a growing cadre of online reviewers of new works extends the means of product discovery for consumers, lowering their search costs in the face of rising supplies of these experience goods, even though this may differ from one sector to another (Hviid et al 2017a).…”

The Challenges of the Publishers in the Industrial Era 4.0: A Review

“…Di era sebelumnya, jika sebuah naskah ditolak mungkin setelahnya akan tenggelam tanpa jejak, tetapi sekarang penulis dapat memastikan dan menguji pasar buku mereka dengan menggunakan metode self-publishing (Hviid, Jacques, & Sanchez, 2017). Oleh karena itu, konsep penerbitan di masa lampau kini sudah tidak relevan.…”

Editorial: Post-Pandemic-Era: Another Crossroad for the Book Industry?

“…The success of such ventures is reserved for future analysis. However, according to the research cited above (Hviid, Izquierdo Sanchez, & Jaques, 2016), a significant difference can be observed between the percentages of self-published and traditionally published authors: Successful vs. Unsuccessful -Self-published 27.03% vs. 72.97% -Traditional published 40.08% vs. 59.92%…”

“…The large increase in self-published books has not only undermined the role of the publishers but for the position of reviewers who could never hope to cover even a fraction of books published." (Hviid, Izquierdo Sanchez, & Jaques, 2016) The Romanian market was not spared from this self-publishing phenomenon either; most of the time, this self-publishing mixed with vanity publishing, which meant printing 100 or 200 copies of a book, which were then partially or entirely given as a gift to friends, bloggers, or curious readers. Some of these new authors could enter the category (borrowed from the energy industry) of 'prosumers' (consumers & producers): dissatisfied with the conditions imposed by the publishing houses in the market, in some cases with the personal relationship with the publishing houses that published them, they decide to publish and distribute their own books.…”