When 90 American publishers meet, with a sublime view of Central Park, 45 French rights managers, it makes for a happy (and studious) reunion. From June 27 to 29, the International Bureau of French Publishing (Bief), allied for the occasion with the cultural services of the French Embassy, organized in New York, in the prestigious setting of the Villa Albertine, its first French -American Book Market. “It’s been a very long time since we had an event of this magnitude in New York, and we can’t believe the number of registrants. There is a real need to be filled.” summary Nicholas Rocheat the head of the Bief, welcoming the two project managers behind these meetings: Claire Mauguiere et Laurence Risson.
In an American market that is still just as difficult to penetrate (translations representing only 3% of all publications, 10% of them coming from French), the objective was above all to strengthen the links between publishers on both sides another from the Atlantic. For the fifty or so French publishers who made the trip, their stay had first begun, in a city where the bookstore sector can be described as devastated, with a visit to bookshops emblematic New Yorkers: Strand Bookstore on 12th Street, Europa in Union Square, the Center for Fiction bookstore in Brooklyn… Time was then devoted to round tables allowing American and French professionals to discuss their work in complete transparency. .
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Audiobook eldorado
One of the highlights was a cross-presentation of the American and French audio book markets, given by Michele Cobbdirector of the Audio Publishers Association, on the one hand, and by Eric Marbeaudirector of digital sales for the Madrigall group, on the other.
The rights market was held in the salons of the Villa Albertine, but also in those of the French consulate, a few meters away – Photo DR
In this regard, the figures are clear: market growth is not weakening on the American continent, recording in 2022 its 11th year of double-digit growth, both in volume and in revenue generated. More than half of the American population over the age of 18 has already listened to an audiobook, according to figures given by Michele Cobb. “Since the pandemic, we have also seen a huge increase in parents turning to audio playback to keep their children away from screens,” she rejoiced, before going into more detail on the evolution of genres, the tools used for listening, but also on the different economic models used by operators in the American market. “American celebrities have been turning to audiobooks a lot lately, which is helping the market tremendously. Whether they are actors, to put their voice on books, or authors, so that their books are published in audio”, also welcomed Michele Cobb.
On a much smaller French market (80 million euros in 2022 against 1.8 billion dollars for the US market), Éric Marbeau has still found many reasons to rejoice. “We are finding a lot of support from booksellers, new business models are being put in place, new publishers are launching into the format every year, and large groups are also investing! »welcomed the representative of Madrigall.
« Is it too French or not? »
Another striking exchange will have been a presentation of experiences, successful or not, in terms of the purchase of rights. Flore Gurrey, publisher at Les Arènes, spoke of the American success of My husband of Maud Ventura (The Iconoclast) highlighted by Oprah Winfrey, the French success of translations of books by Steven Pinker, but also cited works sold in tens of thousands of copies in the United States, and not having exceeded 300 copies in France…
From the rooftop of the Villa Albertine- Photo VILLA ALBERTINE
“Actually, the sales figures don’t really interest us; some books exceed one million copies here and have no interest in France, and vice versa. The most important thing is to create an editorial connection with a French publisher, and when this is the case, it can be extremely powerful”, for his part expressed Daniel Simon, founder of the New York house Seven Stories, publishing on the US market Annie Ernaux (since 1991) or Edgar Morin, and working more globally with POL, Odile Jacob and La Découverte.
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“It’s up to us to decide what can travel or not. We are the first readers of a book, and obviously, we can’t make everything travel. The questions that I systematically ask myself are: “Is it too French or not?”, “Is it universal enough?” In any case, and despite intuitions, sales of rights are so unpredictable… We sometimes have the impression that a book is quite universal… and in fact, not at all! », has explained Heidi Warneke, director of foreign rights at Grasset, returning for example to the success in the United States of Postcard d’Anne Berest.
« The main thing when it comes to exchanging rights is to get to know each other better, to get to know the respective histories of each house better, and to meet as often as possible, even if it is not easy because the Americans have not yet resumed completely on the way to major international fairs”, wanted to sum up Fred Appel, publisher at Princeton University Press.
Frankfurt in focus
Rightly came, after these rich exchanges, the time of the famous meetings in one to one and the rights market itself, a market that lasted an afternoon and then a whole day (see list of French publishers present in the box). For some editors, like Nathalie Caume, deputy director of young Récamier editions, it was mainly “to present the house and its catalog, to launch poles and, hopefully, to have some keys, but also to see some agents who are on the seller’s side”. On the side of the Arena and the Iconoclast, we counted a lot on The little liar of Pascale Robert-Diard, when Grasset came to present the classics of the house, especially its contemporary authors: Laurent Binet, Amin Maalouf, Virginie Despentes… “It’s a real Frankfurt in concentrate! », rejoiced the American publisher Daniel Simon.
Photo DR
A cocktail party at the Villa Albertine, to celebrate the 40th anniversary (and the 1,800 contracts signed) of the French Publishers’ Agency, armed wing of the Bief in New York, and it was already time for the organizers to take stock of these met. “The diversity of houses represented, both in terms of categories of works and types of structures, large groups and independent houses, made it possible to bring together a wide range of publishers. I have the feeling that people were happy to see each other, and that the event was eagerly awaited after several years of prevented mobility”congratulates himself Louise Quantin at the head of the Book and Debate of Ideas department at the Villa Albertine. The American publishers, themselves, hailed the initiative, for the moment not taken by other countries.
“My feeling: even if the Americans translate little, the stakes remain very high for French publishers. The lesson we draw from this: arriving collectively in New York, there is a real power of attraction of French, and the meeting format works wonderfully. The meters were very green for three days in New York, and we will no doubt repeat the operation, perhaps every two years,” concludes Nicolas Roche. “We are now waiting for the fallout, hoping for a large number of sales! », adds Louise Quantin.
2023-07-04 15:00:00
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