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This special issue of Knygotyra is a result of long-lasting collaboration between researchers of few small language countries. We hope this issue will contribute to better understanding the peculiarities of publishing on such markets.

The paper is based on a survey that was conducted among publishers in Slovakia, Iceland, Lithuania and Slovenia in May and August 2020. The paper looks at how publishers reacted to the COVID-19 crisis in their respective countries, what was its impact on book sales and how did the publishers adapt the production of new books to changed circumstances. In addition, the paper analyses changed attitudes of publishers towards e-books and other digital book formats that become more popular in lockdown times. The research revealed that COVID-19 lockdowns resulted in decreased sales of printed books in all four small book markets. However, sales of e-books and audiobooks slightly increased during that period. This increase in digital sales did not contribute significantly to overall results of book industries due to its small market share in all four countries.

Despite various global and local economic crises, the shift of some readers to screen reading, growing online shopping habits, and the shorter time spent on reading books, physical bookstores are able to change and retain their customers. This research is a continuation of a 2013 study in order to capture the current situation and identify the changes that have taken place in Lithuanian physical bookstores over the past five years. During the research, the list of bookstores operating in Lithuania compiled in 2013 was updated and clarified, and an analysis of the collected data and comparison with the data of 2013 were performed. The results showed that from 2013 to 2018 the number of bookstores in Lithuania decrea­sed by 18.8%, to 168 units. On average, the number of inhabitants per Lithuanian bookstore increased by 16.2% and reached 16,720 inhabi­tants per bookstore; the number of municipalities with no bookstores at all increased to 15 (9 in 2013). The largest Lithuanian bookstore networks remained the same: Vaga and Pegasas, which maintained almost the same number of bookstores – 33 bookstores at the end of 2018. The number of medium-sized bookstore networks decreased, and only one of the nine small bookstore networks (2–3 bookstores), which owned two bookstores in 2013, remained. Such changes show that the two major bookstore networks Vaga and Pegasas are strengthening their market position. Calculated by the number of bookstores, in 2018 they already ran 39% of the market. The range of available books in physical Lithuanian bookstores has decreased – from an average 9 thousand titles in 2013 up to 6 thousand titles in 2018. It seems that the 2004–2008 race between physical bookstores for the largest range of book titles in the past is now witnessing an increase in the choice of additional goods in bookstores, sometimes even exceeding their book sales. The decrease and change in the number and range of physical bookstores in Lithuania since 2008 was due to several reasons – from the economic crisis at that time, the continuing decline of the population to the decline of book reading ha­bits, and the transition of some readers to on-screen reading and online shopping.

This was the first time that the annual conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) has been held outside Europe and North America in its 25-year history. The conference took place at Western Sydney University on its historic Parramatta South campus, in the multicultural heart of Western Sydney. More about SHARP 2018 can be found Online: http://sharp2018.sydney.

There has been much speculation in the past years about self-publishing. Some argue that publishing houses do not have a future as publishing service providers. Others claim that it is very easy to publish a book as an e-book. There are many success stories of self-publishers. More and more authors are wondering if they actually need a publisher and a retailer knowing they always take the biggest cut of the pie. The paper looks at the case of a Lithuanian author bestseller (in print). This book has also received the Lithuanian Book of the Year Award in the Fiction category. The author had the book published in Lithuanian by a traditional publishing house. It was quite successful so he decided to self-publish a digital version in English. The steps taken by the author to publish his e-book on Amazon are described and analyzed. Finally, the paper presents the results of selling and promoting his e-book on Amazon platform and provides some insights into facing the market without professional help.

The aim of this paper is to analyze several aspects of digital publishing markets in Baltic countries. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have their own languages, so there are three different publishing markets. Results show that there are significant differences in the number of available titles, despite the fact that the Baltic e-book market is relatively new. The research on e-book sales identified the main e-book retailers and publishers in Baltic countries. E-books in Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian available on sale were counted and the differences between e-book formats and the pricing in each country were established. The results showed that the smallest Baltic country, Estonia, has more e-books on sale than both Latvia and Lithuania. It is difficult to say if Latvia even has an e-book market at all. Lithuania is somewhere in the middle. Finally, an overview of the largest retailers and publishers is provided and overall publishing dynamics within the past 20 years is described.

2016 metų birželio 23 dieną Florencijoje susirinkę mokslininkai iš visos Euro-pos įkūrė Europos leidybos studijų asociaciją (European Publishing Studies Association – EuroPub). Asociacijos tikslas – skatinant tarptautinio akademinio ir profesinio tinklo veiklą prisidėti prie leidybos studijų tobulinimo. Asociacija įregistruota ir jos oficiali buveinė yra Paryžiuje. Asociacijos prezidentu išrinktas prof. dr. Miha Kovačas, vykdomuoju prezidentu – prof. Benoît Berthou, viceprezidentais – prof. dr. (HP) Elena Macevičiūtė (Buroso universitetas, Švedija / Vilniaus universitetas, Lietuva) ir prof. dr. Adriaanas van der Weelas (Leideno universitetas, Nyderlandai), finansininku – Angusas Phillipsas, sekretoriumi – prof. dr. Zoranas Velagićius (Osijeko universitetas, Kroatija).

Non-intrusive experimentation and measurements can be obtained from the latest neuroscience scanning techniques and technologies. Such technologies are now quite affordable and could possibly be used for the reading process research in information and communication sciences. The research experiment focuses on measuring the changes in attention while reading the text on different media (devices). The pilot experiment showed that cheap and easy to use brainwave measuring devices can be used for testing reading processes by measuring attention (concentration). The results revealed that a reading medium (device) affects the level of attention and suggested that less attention is needed to read from paper compared to any size or type of screen. Reading books (in a foreign language) can mostly be considered neutral on the attention level scale (slightly shifted towards 53 on a 1-100 scale).

The survey on the training and professional development needs of Lithuanian publishers was designed and conducted. The pilot research showed that publishers in Lithuania have an interest in professional training. According to the results, the need for training among the employees of Lithuanian publishing houses depends on the previous training experience: the more training courses the employee had before, the greater need for training he/she expresses. 82% of publishing house employees from four different fields agreed and strongly agreed on the need for training. Very few employees would like to pay for training by themselves. The identified need for training appears to reflect the nature of the problems encountered in the publishing field in Lithuania: Copyright, Law & Rights is the most wanted training topic among managing directors. The list of preferred topics for training can be used as the grounds for creating a supply of publishing training courses.

Based on the analysis of scientific papers and sources, the presumptions on the future of digital book are analyzed and most important of them are picked out: the birth of the digital computer (as the medium of the digital book reading and creating), the rise of hypertext (as a new influence upon reading and writing digital books) and the foundation of the internet prototype (as a new medium for publishing and accessing digital books). The most important facts in the history of digital book are picked out and analyzed. According to product life cycle theory, the evolution of the digital book is proposed to be divided into several stages: the stage before the digital book (the presumptions of origin, 1946–1971), the beginning of the digital book (first stage, 1971–2001), and the growth of the digital book (second stage starting from 2001). The present situation of the digital book in the product life cycle is shown and some future prognoses are presented.

Vilniaus universiteto Knygotyros ir dokumentotyros institutas Universiteto g. 3, LT-01513 Vilnius, Lietuva El. paštas: arunas.gudinavicius@gmail.com Straipsnyje identifikuojami jau įgyvendinti ir prieinami internete skaitmeninti rankraštinio paveldo rinkiniai (svetainės). Tiriama, kaip jie atitinka geros praktikos standartus ir tarptautines rekomendacijas. Analizuojant remiamasi MINERVA kultūros paveldo svetainių kokybės principais. Daroma išvada, kad lietuviškų svetainių silpnybė yra tęstinumas ir priežiūra, o stiprybė – technologinė atlikimo kokybė. Konstatuojama esama situacija, pateikiamos rekomendacijos ateities projektams.

Šiandien garsinės knygos Vakaruose itin mėgstamos, perkamos ir plačiai naudojamos. Lietuvoje situacija kitokia. Kompaktinė plokštelė vis dar yra populiariausia garsinių knygų įrašymo ir saugojimo laikmena. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos Lietuvos leidėjų 2000–2009 metais išleistos garsinės knygos kompaktinėse plokštelėse. Apibrėžiama garsinės knygos sąvoka, klasifikavimo kriterijai. Tiriamas garsinių knygų leidybos mastas, išskirti tokių knygų raidos etapai, stambiausi leidėjai. Remiantis apibrėžtais klasifikacijos kriterijais analizuojamas Lietuvoje išleistų garsinių knygų kompaktinėse plokštelėse repertuaras. Konstatuojama dabartinė garsinių knygų leidybos situacija, prognozuojamos ateities perspektyvos. Į straipsnio tyrimų lauką nepateko specifinės Lietuvos aklųjų bibliotekos leidžiamos garsinės knygos. Tai regėjimo negalią turintiems žmonėms skirti specializuoti leidiniai, kurie galėtų būti atskiro tyrimo objektas. Nustatyta, kad tiriamuoju laikotarpiu garsinių knygų leidyba Lietuvoje sudarė labai mažą dalį – apie 0,44 proc. bendro spausdintinių knygų ir garsinių knygų kompaktinėse plokštelėse pavadinimų skaičiaus. 2007–2009 m. išleista didžioji dalis (63,4 proc.) visų per dešimt metų (2000–2009) parengtų garsinių knygų. Lietuvoje nėra leidėjų, kurie specializuotųsi leisti garsines knygas. Konstatuojama, kad Lietuvoje garsinės knygos nėra labai paplitusios. Jų leidybos mastas nedidelis, o nemažą dalį repertuaro sudaro vaikams ir kalbų mokymui(si) skirtos garsinės knygos. Vis dėlto pastarųjų metų tendencijos teikia vilties, kad Lietuvoje garsinių knygų bus leidžiama daugiau. The object of the article is audiobooks on com pact disks that have been published in Lithuania in 2000-2009. The aim of the work was to explore the publishing scope of audiobooks on CDs in Lithuania and the repertoire of these books. After analysing theoretical materials, the conception of an audiobook has been formulated and the main classification criteria have been distinguished. Audiobooks on CDs that have been published in Lithuania in 2000-2009 have been analysed in different aspects. The analysis of statistical data and repertoire of audiobooks enabled to determine the current situation of their publishing and to estimate perspectives for the future. The conclusion is that audiobooks are not very common and not very widely used in Lithuania. These are the reasons why the scope of publishing this kind of books is not large. The biggest part of their repertoire is audiobooks for children and for language learning.