The Pirate Publishing House

What The Pirate Publishing House does

The Pirate Publishing House (Piratförlaget) is a privately held Swedish trade book publisher headquartered at Kaptensgatan 6 in Stockholm (organization number 556573-5379). It publishes Swedish-language fiction across crime/thriller, historical, feelgood, and literary genres, holding rights to marquee Scandinavian authors including Jan Guillou (cumulative Swedish sales exceeding 14 million copies), Anne Holt (Norwegian, 10+ million international sales), and Liza Marklund, alongside debut and mid-list novelists. The catalog is released across multiple physical formats — Inbunden (hardcover, ~248-254 SEK), Danskt band (softcover), Pocket (~119 SEK), and Storpocket — plus digital audiobook editions.

The publisher operates a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront at piratforlaget.se with 2-5 business-day domestic shipping, alongside traditional wholesale distribution through Swedish bookstores and online retailers. Klarna is integrated for buy-now-pay-later payment processing, and MyNewsDesk is used for press release distribution. Marketing is conducted through the company website (author pages, articles, interviews), social media, and earned media. The business model is one-time unit sales of physical and digital books, with no subscription or licensing revenue model disclosed. No production technology infrastructure beyond a standard content/e-commerce stack is in evidence.

Recent strategic activity (2025-2027) includes a 2027 licensed anthology collaboration with the Conan Doyle Estate, an active 2026 publishing slate of seven-plus titles spanning series continuations and debuts, 2025 award momentum (Årets Bok 2025, Adlibris debutantpris nomination, Storytel Feelgood nomination), and a 55th-anniversary reissue of Jan Guillou's 1971 debut. The company is GDPR-compliant, has no disclosed parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, no disclosed headcount, and no publicly disclosed revenue.

Name

The Pirate Publishing House

Legal name

Piratförlaget

Website

https://piratforlaget.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Piratförlaget is a privately held Stockholm-based Swedish book publisher releasing fiction across crime, historical, feelgood, and literary genres in hardcover, paperback, and audiobook formats via DTC e-commerce and Swedish bookstore networks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Book Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Genre & Category Publishing (Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Sci‑Fi/Fantasy, etc.) (MPAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Book publishing
• Fiction publishing
• Audiobook publishing
• Swedish literature
• Printed books

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Traditional publishing revenue from selling physical books (inbundet/hardcover, danskt band/softcover, pocket/paperback, storpocket/large format paperback) at various price points. Books are sold individually with one-time purchase pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Piratförlaget is a Swedish book publisher that publishes, markets, and sells fiction literature in Swedish across multiple genres including crime, thriller, historical fiction, feelgood, and literary fiction. Books are offered in hardcover (Inbunden), softcover (Danskt band), paperback (Pocket), large paperback (Storpocket), and audiobook (Ljudböcker) formats, sold directly through the publisher's e-commerce site and distributed via Swedish bookstores and online retailers.

Product overview

The Pirate Publishing House (Piratförlaget) is a Swedish book publisher offering physical books in multiple formats (Inbunden/Hardcover, Pocket/Paperback, Danskt band/Softcover, Storpocket/Large Paperback) and digital audiobooks. The catalog includes crime novels, psychological thrillers, historical fiction, feelgood novels, and literary fiction from Scandinavian and international authors. Notable series include Jan Guillou's 'Det stora århundradet' (The Great Century) historical series, Jacob Lindfors's Vinterpacket military thriller series, and Emma Ångström's Edda Nord crime series. The publisher also releases standalone titles by prominent authors including Anne Holt, Birgitta Bergin, Liza Marklund, and Kristina Appelqvist.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Diamanter och rost (Diamonds and Rust) Crime novel by Anne Holt, the thirteenth and final book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, published in hardcover format for Swedish readers
• Sherlock Anthology of ten new Sherlock Holmes stories by contemporary authors including Anthony Horowitz, Joe Hill, and Sarah Perry, produced under official license from the Conan Doyle Estate
• Birkarlen (The Birkarl) Historical novel by Liza Marklund, the first installment in a series set in 16th century Sweden depicting power struggles
• Det stora attentatet (The Great Assassination) Historical crime novel by writing duo Fager & Carlberg, set in Stockholm in 1897
• Årets roligaste bok (The Funniest Book of the Year) Cozy crime novel by Kristina Appelqvist, the first book in a series centered on a publishing house called Hillmans
• Mord på topplistan (Murder on the Bestseller List) Crime novel by Ada Wester set within the publishing industry
• Om kriget kommer (If War Comes) 55th anniversary edition of Jan Guillou's 1971 debut novel with a new preface
• De instängda: Flykten (The Confined: The Escape) Psychological thriller by Birgitta Bergin, the second installment of a three-part trilogy
• Ljudböcker (Audiobooks) Digital audiobook versions of catalog titles offered to Swedish readers for digital listening

Quantifiable outcome

• Jan Guillou has sold over 14 million books in Sweden
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Conan Doyle EstateminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 2 November 2027Official collaboration with Conan Doyle Estate for the anthology 'Sherlock' featuring ten contemporary authors writing new Sherlock Holmes stories. This is a licensed publishing arrangement ensuring authentic and authorized content.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bokförlaget Forum: Swedish trade publisher with a notable crime and thriller fiction catalog. Directly comparable to Piratförlaget in the Swedish crime/thriller segment with overlapping target readers.
• Wahlström & Widstrand: Long-standing Swedish trade publisher specializing in Swedish and translated fiction, including crime and literary authors. Directly comparable mid-tier trade publisher competing for genre-fiction authors and bookstore placement.
• Bookmark Förlag: Swedish mid-sized trade publisher with a fiction catalog spanning crime, thrillers, and feelgood genres. Comparable mid-tier trade publisher competing for similar Swedish genre-fiction authors and reader segments.
• Norstedts: Historic Swedish trade publisher (founded 1823) with a strong fiction, crime, and literary catalog and full domestic distribution. Comparable to Piratförlaget in target genres (Swedish crime, literary fiction) and Swedish-language retail channels.
• Albert Bonniers Förlag: One of Sweden's largest and most established trade book publishers, with a broad fiction and non-fiction catalog and strong relationships with Swedish bookshops. Directly comparable as a Swedish-language fiction publisher competing for the same author and shelf-share.
• Bazar Förlag: Swedish publisher with a fiction and feelgood catalog targeting similar Swedish-language readers. Comparable in the feelgood and translated-fiction segment where Piratförlaget fields nominees for the Feelgoodfestivalen award.

Emerging players

• Storytel: Swedish-founded audiobook and e-book subscription platform that distributes audiobook rights from publishers including Piratförlaget. Comparable as a fiction-content business in Sweden whose economics depend on the same publisher catalogs.
• Historiska Media: Swedish publisher specializing in historical non-fiction and historical fiction. Comparable in the historical-fiction overlap with Piratförlaget titles such as Liza Marklund's 'Birkarlen' and Jan Guillou's 'Det stora århundradet' series.

Broad incumbents

• HarperCollins Nordic: Global English-language trade publisher with Nordic distribution. Comparable as a broader incumbent operating in Swedish translated-fiction distribution, though not a Swedish-language native publisher.
• Penguin Random House Nordic: Largest global trade publisher with Nordic operations distributing English-language and translated titles in Sweden. Comparable as a broad incumbent reaching the same end-consumer via Swedish retail and online channels.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/piratforlaget
• Facebookfacebook.com/piratforlaget

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Pirate Publishing House