Competencies of the Modern Publisher – Theoretical Assumptions Versus Opinions of Practitioners

Abstract

The subject of the article are the competencies of the modern publisher, influenced by changes in the book market which occurred in the years 2000–2015. The aim is to compare theoretical assumptions presented in the literature with opinions of representatives of leading Polish publishing houses. While analyzing changes in competencies and the social role of publishers the following factors were taken into account: development of e-books and new forms of media, proliferation of the self-publishing phenomenon and the increasing popularity of the social media. In the first stage of the research, the analysis and critique of the literature method was used, in which a systematic review of literature published in the years 2000–2015 in Polish and English was done, in order to develop a theoretical model of the competencies and role of the modern publisher. Then the developed model was compared with the results of surveys conducted among Polish academic and fiction publishers. As a result, conclusions were drawn regarding the scope and forms of changes which took place in the book market under the influence of new media development.