The book publishing business, as a part of the cultural industry, has gone thru major changes, triggered by the emergency for digital technologies. These changes started in the editing and production firms with the introduction of new technologies like the desktop publishing and the computer to print. A second change to the market also happened with the introduction of the Internet as a sales tool. Finally the coming of the e-book format and its proliferation created a hybrid branch of the market, that started to have in technology companies like Amazon and Google, distribution "partners". In Brazil there was a great resistance from the editors and book sales man to adopt the new formats because of the fear they had of losing the distribution control. For over a decade the attempts to introduce the new format into the Brazilian market failed, until three years ago, when things started to change. This article portrays a panorama of the introduction of the e-book in Brazil, its cultural and economic implications, evaluating the conflicts that have taken place in the last twelve years.
