The Book Future

Jacob Dalborg and Hartmut Jedicke

What are your goals for the Nordic country operations and Finland in particular, Jacob?

Jacob Dalborg: For my part it's about working to ensure we have clever and competitive strategies for each country and putting our efforts into the literary strengths we have at Bonnier. When the acquisition of WSOY is complete, it will be a matter of setting future plans and strategies for the publisher together with the top management in Finland.

What do you think are the most important issues for you as new board chair for Bonnier Publishing, Hartmut?  

Hartmut Jedicke: A lot of things are different in the U.K., Australia or France but the really important issue is the same: It's all about people. And it's a great team working at Bonnier Publishing. Bonnier Media Deutschland is one of the biggest children's book publishers in Germany and has been cooperating with Bonnier Publishing in recent years in the mass market sector. We can intensify that. And the new publishing house in the U.K., Hot Key Books, is very close to the core business of Thienemann and Carlsen. Bringing people together to share experiences and  inform each other about interesting developments will be good for both companies. 

What does the future in the Nordic region look like, Jacob?

JD: Again, it looks different in the different markets but what they have in common is that we don't expect to see a lot of growth in coming years. The focus will be on becoming more efficient and managing the switch to digital. We need to continue to streamline and rationalize the industry in order to be competitive with other industries. We need to be as smart in the digital world as we are with physical books.

What is the biggest challenge - for you and for the book publishing industry as a whole, Hartmut? 

HJ: The biggest challenge, as Jacob said, is the digital revolution. In some areas the development is very fast, in others it's slower. But it's coming everywhere. Yet as the German Humorist Karl Valentin said: "Making a prognosis is not easy, especially if it's about the future."