Feature Guest of Honour


beginning,” admits Monadé. “We believed the market was already mature, but clearly we were wrong, as expe- rience has proved there was still further potential.” The event will cost France €4.7m, of which 70% is contributed by the state and 30% by regional authorities and corporate and cultural organisation sponsors. For Boin, the situation is positive. He notes that French publishers signed 1,813 rights contracts with their German counterparts in 2015 and 2016, 4.7% more than the 1,732 signed during the previous two years. Adult fiction jumped by 48.1% from 231 to 342, while comic books shrank by 3.5% and children’s books by 3.4%. “But it mustn’t be forgoten that comic books accounted for 808, nearly half the total number of contracts,” Boin stresses. Thanks largely to French titles, this sector has rebounded in Germany in the past eight years, with graphic novels seemingly forming a bridge for readers between children’s and adults’ comic books, he adds.


Comme çi, comme ça Yet some in the French trade are not entirely upbeat about the Guest of Honour stint. Pierre Dutilleul, director of the French Publishers Assocation (Syndicat National de l’Edition, SNE), said: “The effect seemed to be clear in 2015 [when the bid was accepted], as publishers sold German rights for more titles than the year before, and the value of the deals rose too. But the totals slipped in 2016 and have remained flat this


THE POSITIVES


We believed the market was already mature, but clearly we were wrong, as experience has proved there was still further potential. The economic objectives [of the programme] have already been achieved


Vincent Monadé, president, Centre National du Livre


THE NUMBERS THE NEGATIVES


We were asked to come to the fair, but [as of 22nd September] we still have an empty diary. And none of the French authors’ organisations have been invited to the inauguration or received accreditation


Marie Sellier, president, Société des Gens de Letres 282


French publishers will be exhibiting at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, 190 of which will have a space on the BIEF’s stand


650sqm The size of the BIEF


stand this year, owing to its increased publisher presence; last year it was 600sqm


year. In other words, it is business as usual, rather than a new dynamic.”


Marie Sellier, president of the authors’ societ Société des Gens de Letres (SGDL), takes a rather dim view of the proceedings. She says: “We had hoped to have a half or full day of roundtable discussions among French, German, Spanish and other authors. We understood the [French culture] ministry was in favour, but nothing has been organised. We are very disappointed. We were asked to come to the fair, but [as of 22nd September] we still have an empt diary. And none of the French authors’ organisations have been invited to the inaugu- ration or received accreditation.” That does not mean French authors will not make their presence felt, however. “We will no doubt hold some debates anyway, but outside the official delega- tion, and we will present a joint press statement on the Wednesday,” Sellier says.


The 130 authors in the official delegation will be paid according to the minimum scale the CNL adopted in 2015 as a condition for providing subsidies to book fairs, festivals and other events. The fee for authors to present their latest books is a minimum of €150, with events requiring preparation earning them €227, and reading- performances €400 net. “I regret they will not be paid the rates recommended by the authors’ organisations’ charter for children’s books authors and illustrators,” Sellier adds. These stand at €227 net for half a day, and €375 net for a full day.


France’s bestsellers in 2016


2016 title


1 Harry Potter et l’enfant maudit 2 L’instant présent La fille de Brooklyn Elle & lui


3 4 5 6 7 8 9


10 La fille du train L’amie prodigieuse


Le charme discret de l’intestin Maman a tort Chanson douce


10 Le jour où j’ai appris à vivre translated title author


Guillaume Musso Guillaume Musso Marc Levy


imprint


Pocket XO


sales


Harry Potter... Cursed Child Rowling, Thorne, et al Gallimard Jeun... 851,800 This Very Instant Brooklyn Girl She and Him


The Girl on the Train My Brilliant Friend Gut


Mother is Wrong Lullaby


The Day I Learned to Live


Paula Hawkins Elena Ferrante Giulia Enders Michel Bussi Leïla Slimani


Laurent Gounelle


Pocket Pocket Folio


Actes Sud Pocket


Gallimard Pocket


632,800 545,200 440,200 405,400 382,700 377,600 370,900 358,100 330,700


30


Francophone sub-Saharan houses will be exhibiting at this year’s fair, with France’s GoH slot keen to focus on the broader French-language trade


130


French authors are in the official delegation, with a further 50 at the fair expected to take the total presence to 180


www.thebookseller.com


25


Source: Livres Hebdo


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