The Global Book: Micropublishing, Conglomerate Production, and Digital Market Structures

• DOI: 10.1007/s12109-017-9558-8
• Publication Date: 2017-11-15T15:27:02Z
• Authors: Ann Steiner
• Keywords: Book trade; e-books; Litteraturvetenskap; Digital publishing; General Literature Studies; 05 social sciences; Micropublishing; World literature; 0509 other social sciences

The contemporary book business is both globalized and digitalized, whether we are talking international bestsellers or micropublished digital-only e-books. All categories of literature have been profoundly marked by technological and social change. Despite being polar opposites, large-scale media conglomerate publishing and micropublishing are discussed jointly in the article. Globalization and digitalization are used as overarching concepts and developed in terms of promoters, gatekeepers, visibility, and discoverability. The question is how the globalization and digitalization of the book market has influenced and changed literature in circulation beyond its national or linguistic areas.