From its early days, the publishing business was very interesting to study because it had two functions: cultural and economic. As our society made great progress, through different technological changes and information-communication technologies, publishing itself made its progress adopting contemporary trends into their business. Considering that the publishing business is an economical activity, its business activity was also marked with times of crises. This doctoral dissertation presents a review of literature from foreign and domestic authors from the publishing field in correlation with problems during the times of crises. The focus is on Croatian publishing and three observed crises. The following research focuses on the following crises that are analyzed in depth: disruption in publishing during the 1990s, the economic crisis in 2008 and the crisis caused by COVID-19 virus pandemic. The research part of the doctoral dissertation was divided into a few phases. Each phase was observed and analyzed with financial indicators that are related with the publishing activity of Croatian publishers during the observed crises. The list of Croatian publishers was downloaded from the website of Croatian community of publishers and booksellers in 2021. The list consists of 108 Croatian publishers and booksellers. The business activity of publishers and booksellers was observed through the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Digital Platform that analyzes data for Croatian Chamber of Economy and through a platform called Info.Biz that is property of the Financial Agency. For the purpose of a more detailed analysis, this doctoral dissertation also included reports about revisions related to conversion and privatization directly connected with the publishing sector. Additionally, analysis included tracking online blogs and portals that mainly track changes in the publishing sector. The analysis also focused on 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. In the research part of the dissertation, qualitative research methods of restructured interviews were used. 11 respondents, who were part of the Croatian publishing sector for a very long time, took part in the interview. The data collected by this research showed that the global crisis influenced the Croatian publishing sector, but also that the first crisis in the Republic of Croatia was not caused by the global crisis, but rather the result of state legal changes that were happening at the time. Bad transitions and changes in business subjects by conversion and privatization made the Croatian publishing sector unstable. The unstable publishing sector left consequences that are still felt today. The already weak publishing sector was additionally weakened by the economic crisis and the smaller Croatian crisis in the publishing sector. The Croatian publishing sector had many falls and negative trends in every crisis, especially when it came to small publishing houses and independent bookstores. The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus made business for Croatian publishers even harder, especially on a global level. On a global level, the pandemic caused many disorders in correlation with distribution and supply chains. Consequently, that caused a price increase (paper and printing). The usage and applicability of this research are that this is the first doctoral dissertation that analyzes the period from 1990 until 2020 with a focus on the Croatian publishing sector and its business activity during times of crisis. The doctoral dissertation brings conclusions about the Croatian publishing sector and key points highlighting the main problems in the sector. Key points can be used as guidelines for future research, and also for publishers and scientists who are willing to work on changes that are necessary for the Croatian publishing sector.