Following a year of collaboration, the two Swedish publishing groups have decided to create the company Mockingbird Publishing Software AB, where also the employees are owners, which will develop tailor-made system support for publishing operations. Both publishers have committed to further developing the Mockingbird product not only for their own publishers but also for others.
‘In a rapidly digitalising industry, one strategic way forward is through collaboration and development of shared IT infrastructure,’ says Magnus Brundin, Director Corporate Business Development Bonnier Books. ‘Together with Storytel Books, we will be driving the development and commercialisation of Mockingbird. With a focus on modern system support, new opportunities will arise for various stakeholders involved in the publishing process. We hope to create a new platform of a future oriented and modern system solution for the book industry in the coming years.’
Mockingbird, a product life cycle system, is the newly formed company’s first offering. The system offers an integrated solution across the entire publishing process. Development of Mockingbird has been carried out by Bonnierförlagen since 2015 and there are currently eight employees working with operations and development. All these employees will join the newly formed company.
‘Modern systems that suit all types of publishers, both small and large, are in short supply today,’ says Linda Säresand, CEO of Storytel Books. ‘Together, we have an enormous knowledge of the publishing business that many external software companies can simply never have. System solutions of this type are also costly to develop on your own. Our collaboration has great advantages that we believe will benefit the entire industry.’
Mockingbird is currently used by Bonnier Books’ Finnish publishing operations and all publishing operations within Bonnierförlagen (Swe). Within Storytel, the system will be put into operation by Norstedts Förlagsgrupp (Swe) and Gummerus (FI) during 2022.
‘We see great potential for more publishers being able to use Mockingbird since the system is developed and tailored for the publishing process,’ says Anders Vendelvik, Bonnierförlagen’s CIO, who will assume the role as interim CEO in the start-up of Mockingbird Publishing Software. ‘Together with Storytel Books, our focus is on adapting the system to the needs of the market.’
About Bonnier Books
Bonnier Books brings together Bonnier’s ventures in the book industry across Northern Europe. Bonnier Books encompasses independently run publishing and retail businesses, ranging from traditional and digital-first publishing to a quality bookstore chain, a paperback retailer and a digital subscription service. www.bonnierbooks.com
About Storytel Books AB
Storytel Books AB is the home for all publishing houses owned by Storytel Group and publishes both printed books and audio books. The publishers within Storytel Books have published books since 1823 in Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The parent company Storytel Group (publ) is a leading streaming service for audiobooks and e-books and is present in more than 25 countries globally. www.storytel.com
For more information, contact:
Magnus Brundin, Director Corporate Business Development, Bonnier Books, +46(0)70-60 118 18, magnus.brundin@bonnierbooks.com
Linda Säresand, CEO, Storytel Books, +46(0)8-769 87 09, linda.saresand@storytelbooks.com
Rickard Andersson, PR, Bonnierförlagen, +46(0)76-69 583 47, rickard.andersson@bonnierforlagen.se
Olle Lidbom, Head of Marketing and Publicity, Norstedts Förlagsgrupp, +46(0)70-18 521 15, olle.lidbom@norstedts.se