Quality and Edge, Continuity and Change

Schildts & Söderströms is a strong, driven Finnish publishing company. We focus on literature and educational content in Swedish and Finnish, emphasizing quality and edge in our output and our operations.

We are proud of our long history and heritage – being the offspring of two early pioneers within the Finnish publishing industry. Werner Söderström founded the Söderströms publishing company already in 1891, and in 1913 Holger Schildt founded the Schildts publishing. Ever since, the brands of Söderströms and Schildts have been part of the vernacular in Swedish-speaking Finland. On 1 February 2012 we saw the single biggest change to our continuity – as the two publishing houses merged to form Schildts & Söderströms. Through the merger, we further entrench and enhance our position on the Finnish market as the foremost publisher of literature and educational content in Swedish. The principal shareholders are four non-profit organizations, the association Föreningen Konstsamfundet, the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, the association Svenska folkskolans vänner and the trade union Finlands svenska lärarförbund. Together these four institutions own over half the shares in the company. In addition, there are some 600 individual shareholders.

Today, we continue to proudly bear the names of our founding fathers, and continue in their spirit – pioneering new concepts, products and services while staying true to our traditions. In short: We stand for quality and edge, for continuity and change.

Two Sites, One Team

At the moment we have close to 50 in-house professionals working on two sites – Helsinki and Vaasa. Our premises in Helsinki are located at Bulevardi 7, and in Vaasa on Vaasanpuistikko 24. In addition we have a separate bookstore in Vaasa, at Kirkkopuistikko 18.

We find that working out of two main sites adds perspective and drives innovative thinking. Regardless of location and distance, we work closely together, establishing virtual teams not only within the company, but also with partners and suppliers.

Key to our past, present and future success are our authors, content developers, partners and suppliers. At the time of writing about 600 highly creative and skilled persons are linked to us, and we continuously develop our network of specialists – poets and programmers alike. If you are interested in working with us, please feel free to contact us. See www.sets.fi/Personnel.php for contact information or email us at info@sets.fi

Literature, Educational Content and New Business Ventures

Our core business is to publish high-quality literature and educational content in Swedish in Finland – in print and in digital format. The annual turnover is approximately EUR 6.5 million.

We believe that quality is paramount, and invest accordingly. As the Swedish-speaking market in Finland is not growing, we want to generate growth on new markets and new business ventures. We have for a number of years published fiction and non-fiction in English, and in addition we have founded a subsidiary, Edukustannus, which will target the Finnish-speaking educational market. Edukustannus is in operation as of spring 2011 and will launch its first products in spring 2013.

Elit, our business unit in Vaasa, is another form of new business venture. In addition to producing digital learning solutions for the educational market, the unit offers digital products for the corporate market, e.g. developing tailored solutions for web, desktop and mobile devices. Please visit www.elit.fi or contact Development Manager Nils Saramo (nils.saramo@sets.fi) if you are interested in co-operation.

Novels, Poetry, Non-fiction, children’s literature and more

In the literature department we publish over 100 works every year. Our output covers most genres, including novels, short stories, poetry, children’s books, biographies, memoirs and other works of non-fiction.

As of fall 2010, we release most books in both print and electronic format, and will in time release works in our back list as e-books as well. Furthermore, we launch mobile applications based on select children’s books. The e-books can be purchased from our site or from Apple’s iBookstore. The apps are available through Apple’s Appstore.

Educational content

Our educational publishing targets basic education, upper secondary education as well as pre-primary education. We offer educational solutions for most school subjects. The portfolio includes text books, work books, audio material and digital learning solutions.

The educational market is evolving fast, with integrated digital learning solutions emerging as a core feature. We are actively pursuing dynamic e-learning, working on for example educational gaming, mobile solutions and adaptive learning. In the last years we have launched several well-received solutions, for example for language learners.

Foreign Rights and Agreements

For inquiries related to international rights to our titles and concepts, and to publishing agreements, please contact CEO Barbro Teir at barbro.teir@sets.fi.