Book business and entrepreneurship . RE-SIT EXAMINATION

Introduction

The book business is one of our oldest cultural industries. Over the years this has been a business in continuous growth. Especially during the last ten years the number of publications has exploded because of new technology and cheap producttion costs. The investments required in production are relatively small compared to the net profit a bestseller shows, leading to a great number of business trying their luck in a market with rough margins dominated by only a few large corporations. The three most powerful publishers in Norway are Aschehoug, Gyldendal and Cappelen Damm. Their main characteristic is that they take care of all the steps in the value chain of books, that is: publishing, distribution, book clubs and book stores, as well as the mass market. This means that they attend to all parts of the value chain in the field of literature, from the author to the reader. The dualism between art and commerce is a common theme in the lecturers. There will also be a focus on the challenges of marketing books in an already saturated market.

Course content

• The value chain in the Norwegian book business
• Business models
• History of the business
• The author
• Publishing houses
• Literature
• Distribution channels
• PR, sales and marketing
• The economy of literature
• Digitalization of the literary field
• The reader
• Book business as part of the cultural business