The role of both promotion and distribution in the book supply chain: how to find one’s way in the publishing industry’s maze

Abstract

In Italy, book distribution plays a key role in identifying the mechanisms ruling the publishing industry. After having defined book as a ‘commodity’ and as a product of a complex organization where many players are involved, our aim is to identify exactly what the distribution process consists of and how it spreads in different activities.

Investigating the role of distribution will help us to understand possible evolutions of the Italian ever-changing panorama, in which small and medium-sized publishing houses resist and the main publishing groups are the protagonists of a continuous process of reorganization, triggered both by the changes taking place in the book market.

Thanks to the data collected within the framework of a research involving publishers, distributors and other players involved in the book supply chain, we try to develop an overview identifying distribution models in our country today. An attempt is made to understand whether these models are able to interpret the changes taking place and respond to new demands involving the key roles related to books and their trade.