Bättre en bok i handen än tio på nätet? En studie av författares och förlags attityder till elektronisk publicering av skönlitteratur

Sammanfattning: This master thesis investigates attitudes toward electronic publishing of fiction among the key participants authors and publishers in Sweden with the overall purpose of analysing the nature of these attitudes and what sort of tensions that exist between the two groups. The major areas of concern were formulated as: what sort of attitudes do authors and publishers display toward electronic publishing of fiction?, how do these attitudes affect the way the two groups relate to electronic publishing and to each other? and how do they perceive the future of this practice?. Everett Rogers diffusion of innovations theory was applied to characterise electronic publishing as an innovation cluster, and to investigate innovation attributes in form of relative advantages and disadvantages, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Data was gathered using quantitative questionnaires, but respondents were also given the opportunity to elaborate freely on some of the questions. These accounts were also included in the analysis. The conclusions drawn were that authors presented a more positive and publishers a more negative attitude toward the innovation cluster, but that they shared an appreciation of relative advantages in form of market oriented expectations to a high degree. Regarding disadvantages the publishers lingered on economic considerations whilst the authors primarily concerned themselves with legal, cultural and aesthetic aspects. Knowledge of attitudes toward and outcomes of the innovation was generally low. A mutual acknowledgement of traditional publishing and print values and practices emerged, along with sentiments bordering on technological determinism. A possible inherent strength in electronic publishing might paradoxically be deducted from attitudes reflecting only partial concordance between perceptions of the practice and dominant sociocultural values. The absence of centralised agreements on electronic rights remains pivotal.