Abstract

The author, operations director of the Feltrinelli publishing house, deputy director and representative of the AIE (Associazione italiana degli editori - the Italian Publishers' Association), describes the crisis that hit the Italian publishing industry in 2011, after thirty years of market stability. Since then, even with the introduction of new legislative regarding the regulation of retail prices and the arrival of Amazon in Italy, various phenomena have established themselves: the contraction of the market by 20%; the acquisition of the second-largest player (Rizzoli) by the first (Mondadori), now dominating 35% of the domestic Italian market - something unmatched in Europe and beyond; a persistent fragmentation of production. The trend in the price of books and e-books, the discipline of authors' intellectual property, the lack of development of the digital market in Italy (still only 5% of the book market), and the role of piracy, are all covered in the article.