The number two French publishing house, Editis, announced Thursday, December 19, via a press release, having hired at the head of Robert Laffont Editions a publisher who had successfully founded his own house, Frédéric Martin. Robert Laffont, one of the most prestigious houses of Editis, was looking for a successor to Sophie Charnavel, CEO who died in September of cancer at the age of 47. The press release specifies that his disappearance “was a terrible loss for the house, its teams, its authors, the group and the publishing world“.
Quoted in this text, the president of Editis, Denis Olivennes specifies: “We were looking for someone who was out of the ordinary, cherished books, admired authors, loved booksellers, fraternized with their teams, and looked at publishing, literature and their audience without any snobbery. Frédéric brilliantly ticks all these boxes.”
A graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), Frédéric Martin, 49, who will take up his position on January 1, is the founder of the editions The Tripod. He started his career at the publishing house Viviane Hamywhere he notably revealed a book that had gone unnoticed in his country of origin, The Art of Joy by the Italian Goliarda Sapienza, which became a posthumous bestseller. In the press release published by Editis, he also said he endorsed the Italian author’s thoughts: “What is beauty if not consistency“.
Frédéric Martin subsequently participated in the founding of Attila editions in 2009, before becoming independent in 2013 by creating Le Tripode editions. On December 12, he announced that he was leaving Le Tripode, handing over to a colleague promoted to general manager, Charlotte Bréhat. He pleaded in a press release for “an inventive, generous, popular edition, eager to open up to new audiences“.
He greeted Thursday “the determination of a large group to be more than ever a welcoming land for free spirits“. Robert Laffont is the editor of writers like Marc Levy, Ken Follett or Margaret Atwood. He recently attracted Alain Mabanckou and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio. Frédéric Martin “will be accompanied by two assistant directors, Alice d’Andigné and Gabriel Zafrani“, clarified Editis.
