Livres Hebdo: The year 2024 marked a setback for many publishers. For Here and There also?
Serge Ewenczyk : In 2022 and 2023, in the wake of the two consecutive Fauves d’or d’Angoulême for Listen, pretty Marcia et The color of things, we had doubled our turnover compared to the average for our first seventeen years! The year 2024 saw a return to normal, but faster than expected, with the feeling of having lost all the ground gained. Fortunately, The color of things still sells, and has become our bestseller with 66,000 net sales, well beyond the previous one, My friend Dahmer and its 38,000 copies (excluding paperback). But the reality of the market is that books sell less well, even with press and prices, as What they are. We almost have the impression that the threshold of 5,000 copies, which represented a success, has fallen to 3,000…
You have always been very transparent, publicly releasing sales and returns over the past year. Why this approach?
I find it important to reveal the reality of the figures to show the reality of the market, because this has repercussions on the entire chain and on the remuneration of authors. Everyone should know that half of new releases sell less than 1,000 copies, that 80% of albums do not reach 5,000. We cannot analyze the sector if we only look atAsterix or The Arab of the future.
However, when we see the crowds at festivals, like at the popular BD Colomiers last November, it seems that the readers are still there…
Yes, the fairs work, because they are a cultural activity in themselves, and readers are always very interested in meeting the authors. Between Angoulême, Saint-Malo, Formula Bula, the Fête de l’Humanité or Colomiers – which benefits from the team’s in-depth work all year round around independent publishing -, festival sales represent around 10% of our annual turnover. But it is more the sale in bookstores which suffers, particularly in the specialized and general level 1, where our audience is concentrated: the implementations are weaker, the restockings less rapid…
« When you are independent, you have to live in denial! »
Is comic book publishing, and in particular independent publishing, at the start of a crisis?
The sector is dynamic, with new entrants, talented young publishers, more and more very good comics of great diversity, but also bookstore creations. It’s great, but it contributes to overproduction. Independent publishing must live with these side effects. However, it is paradoxically better equipped to overcome crises than large groups which have heavy expenses. It knows how to adapt its economic models and tools for calling for help exist today. Where we must remain vigilant is in the concentration of the sector, where the big ones are bought up by even bigger ones, at the risk of unbalancing the chain…
-After 20 years of publishing moving on a tightrope, and while the house has rocked dangerously several times, how can we keep faith in the future?
When you are independent, you have to live in denial! This is why, despite a gloomy year in 2024, we are looking ahead to 2026 and 2027, because we assume that booksellers will continue to defend us. We keep the same line: publish the books we like, work with the authors we follow, discover new ones, and stay on a pace of eleven releases per year. We also try to get out of the Anglo-Saxon world, to develop creation in relation to the purchase of rights, and to aim for a balance between authors.
« Bringing together several people, of different genders and ages, is also an opportunity to change the editorial line a little. »
Is the challenge of creation paying off?
It always depends on the authors and the books, but the recognition and success of Andi Watson, Mana Neyestani, Martin Panchaud or Marcello Quintanilha are very important to us. The Golden Beast for Listen, pretty Marcia had an immediate effect on sales abroad: we sold the rights in around ten countries, including South Korea and the United States. Today, transfers of rights can represent 5 to 7% of turnover.
This 20th anniversary also involves a change in structure for Çà et là.
Until now, ça et là was an SAS of which I am the main shareholder, with my brother at my side. But the lonely side of this position had been weighing on me for some time. I needed to share in the decision making. So I said to myself that we should take advantage of our 20 years to overhaul the organization of Çà et là: we are going to become a Scop, whose four employees will each have a quarter of the shares and votes in the company. I can now share decisions with Hélène Duhamel, who has been a graphic designer, artistic director and translator of the house for 12 years, Louise Fourreau, former bookseller, responsible for bookstore relations and over-distribution, and Marie Hornain, responsible for communications and external relations. Bringing together several people of different genders and ages is also an opportunity to change the editorial line a little. At 55, it’s not a way to give up: I’m still fully involved, but I share everything. This prospect enchants me.
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