Abstract

The readers number, the books read number, The readers number, the books read number, the frequency of reading – in short: the reading – are decisive factors in defining the Italian publishing chain, the fourth in Europe and the first Italian cultural industry. In this article are considered the two structural restrains biasing the development of Italian book and editorial contents market: an Italian speaking market coinciding with the geographical borders of the country and the weight of the «strong readers» – the 16% of the book readers produces the 38% of the copies sold – in a market with the lowest reading indices among the great continental publishing industries. So in a social and cultural context where we are experiencing a new and changing mix between word and imagine, paper and digital, books and smartphones, Wattpad and novel, graphic novel and fanfiction, novels and tv series – failing an Italian speaking market overseas – the road the enterprises system is pursuing in the last decades is its internationalization through the rights selling, the joint editions, the production of titles directly in a foreign language, while the weight of the «strong readers» explain the important role of small and middle publishers in the Italian market