“It is certain that, if I had the choice, I would make all my books in Quebec, with Quebec printers. But there are books for which it is absolutely impossible,” says Marc-André Audet, president and founder of Les Malins, in an interview with Soleil.
The Montreal publishing house prints “up to 70%” of its production in Quebec. However, for the rest, it must however turn towards the international market, including China.
In general, the vast majority of “traditional” novels and other black and white books indicate the terms “printed in Quebec” or “printed in Canada”. However, when we talk about illustrated albums, colorful comics or even cardboard books for children, it’s a completely different story.
All books bear a note about their place of printing. You can easily find the information by opening the first or very last page of the book. (Jocelyn Riendeau/The Sun)
“It’s already been more than twenty years since printing [en] color, in Quebec, it can easily be a headache. There are titles that are absolutely impossible to make in Canada,” adds Mr. Audet.
In this regard, the entrepreneur gives as an example his popular ABCs of girls written by Catherine Girard-Audet. A 400+ page book that comes with lots of colors, an effect on the cover, a bookmark inside, etc.
“In many cases, we imagine that everything is doable in Quebec, but often, it is not. Cardboard books, [par exemple]there is no longer a single printer who can do that even in America,” adds the publisher, who must now turn to Poland or China to produce his books intended for toddlers.
A beautiful object… expensive
We sometimes forget it, but beyond their fabulous stories, books are also objects in their own right, whose materials are not chosen at random. They have a real impact on the reading experience.
However, unlike black and white novels, color and illustrations impose additional costs. Because, in the book industry as in many other cultural disciplines, each artistic choice has a direct impact on the cost of the work. Whether we’re talking about a cardboard cover to which we add a glossy effect, a sewn rather than glued binding, the preferred type of paper, etc.
If the price varies depending on the projects and their complexity, printing a book in Quebec generally costs up to twice as much as abroad, according to the publishers met by The Sun. And this, sometimes even including additional transport costs.
It is partly for this reason that La Pastèque has also been looking abroad for several years. The Montreal publishing house, which specializes in comics and children’s albums, prints the majority of its works in Slovakia and Poland.
In creating a book, from the cover to the illustrated pages, every little detail counts and involves additional costs. (Jocelyn Riendeau/The Sun)
“You should know that there are very few factories still standing. In Quebec, there are perhaps still two [grands] printers? […] There are many small structures that can print books, but we cannot work with them due to the nature of our books,” explains Martin Brault, co-founder and publisher at La Pastèque.
For the publisher who also distributes its books in France, printing in Europe is a sort of compromise between its logistical, economic and environmental issues.
“It’s certain that we are Canadian, Quebecois. We say to ourselves that it would be interesting to print books here… but it’s impossible. Unless my clientele is extremely wealthy.”
— Martin Brault, co-founder of La Pastèque editions
«[En tant qu’éditeur]I can’t afford to sell 48-page children’s albums for $27 or $28. This is not possible. I am aware that readers’ wallets are not expandable,” says Mr. Brault.
Teaming up with European printing companies allows it to remain competitive with the generous offering found in bookstores, while offering a quality product. This is despite printing costs, the cost of paper or even the general cost of living which have increased significantly during the pandemic.
“It’s getting more and more expensive to produce books. […] Through all of this, we have publishing houses that do not want to increase the price of books too much because they do not want to harm the market. They want to continue to offer affordable prices. So the margins of publishing houses are shrinking more and more. We are faced with publishing companies which are, after all, quite fragile,” underlines Karine Vachon, general director of the National Association of Book Publishers (ANEL).
Between the tree and the bark
Having your books printed internationally or in Quebec is a real debate in the publishing world. For ANEL, however, it is not necessary to take an official position on the issue, recalling that it is a “commercial choice” specific to each company.
Since he founded La Pastèque in 1998, Mr. Brault has received few comments from readers criticizing the location of his prints. However, those he received made him think about different things, including the greenhouse gases created during the transport of his products.
This is partly what pushed it, a few years ago, to reduce its contracts with China and turn to Europe. “But I can’t cut it completely. Because, otherwise, there are projects that will not see the light of day,” he recalls.
The founder of Les Malins editions, Marc-André Audet, also prefers to reduce the environmental impact of his books “when we have the choice”.
The publisher also says it is aware of the ethical issues linked to working conditions in Chinese factories. All in all, “very automated” places where the salary is sometimes more generous than in Poland, he specifies.
“We know the printers with whom we work,” assures Mr. Audet, stressing that these printing works occasionally receive visits from inspectors hired by large groups of publishers.
