Books

Traditional analytical frameworks used to study the book industry—mainly linear, firm-centered,
and value-chain based—offer limited capacity to capture the relational, institutional dynamics that
characterize publishing ecosystems. To address this gap, this article introduces the Book Industry
Mesosystem Model (BIMM), a novel mesoeconomic and mesoanalytical framework that reconceptualizes
the book industry as a mesosystem embedded in economic, institutional, and territorial
structures. The model integrates five core concepts, six transversal dimensions, and twenty-five
agent typologies, providing an architecture for examining complexity beyond firm or market boundaries.
BIMM was developed through a 39-month multimethod design combining: 1) iterative conceptual
refinement with experts and industry professionals (n = 29), 2) semi-structured interviews with experts
and professionals (n = 43), and 3) application to two case studies focused on creation and production
processes. This hybrid research pathway ensured conceptual rigor, empirical grounding,
and transferability.
The resulting model provides a framework for examining coordination mechanisms, institutional
configurations, inter-agent dependencies, and transversal forces. Its empirical application reveals patterns of precarious work, concentration, technological dependency, and institutional mediation
that remain under-represented in traditional approaches. BIMM expands theoretical and methodological
horizons for research on cultural and creative industries, offering a foundation for comparative
analyses and mixed-method operationalization.