Value sharing. The expression has flourished in the book sector since the start of this year 2024. Last February, the National Publishing Union, to fuel discussions with authors’ organizations on contractual conditions and remuneration levels , published a study on the sharing of value between authors and publishers.
To say that the document sparked controversy would be an understatement. All the authors’ organizations then pointed out a light ” partial and biased », to use the expression of the Association of French Literary Translators (ATLF). According to the authors, a certain number of parameters were not taken into account by the SNE, or presented in an unsatisfactory manner, despite the defense of the professional organization.
Questions about sharing the price of the book between the players in the chain now extend to the bookstore. The French Librairie Union (SLF) has in fact launched an appeal for solidarity from the chain, and particularly from publishers and distributors.
Actors experiencing impoverishment
The questions surrounding the distribution of the value of the book arose, on the authors’ side, from an observation of “economic weakening», documented, in particular, by a study by the Ministry of Culture in 2016, recalls Christophe Hardy, president of the Société des Gens de Lettres (SGDL). “Since then, we have been making proposals on sharing value, as part of a dialogue between authors and publishers.»
This impoverishment of authors would today be shared by the bookstore, whose commercial margins, already low, are put under pressure by an increase in charges. Which makes Frédérique Pingault say,Tramway Bookstorein Lyon, that she “has the feeling of experiencing the impoverishment of booksellers since my purchase of this brand 14 years ago“.
“This vocation, this passion profession is a little less so now. We ask our booksellers to be Swiss army knives, to sell demanding books, demanding funds, to host meetings… And, in fact, the actors who are the best paid are the big makers, who satisfied with the quantitative. We, independent booksellers, cannot fight.»
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A reference to the discount points granted by publishers to booksellers on the public price excluding tax of books: if it can reach 36% and sometimes more, it often stagnates around 30% and rarely exceeds 40%. In view of the delicate situation of bookstores, the SLF asked publishing houses to make an effort, pointing to the Hachette and Media-Participations groups.
Rethink a model
Dominique Tourte, who came to represent the voice of independent publishing houses as general director of the federation which represents them (FEDEI) reports “production costs which have increased quite sharply and significant cash flow tensions“.
Added to this, according to him, are increasing return rates for independent works, as well as a “invisibility linked to concentration: we appear with great difficulty on booksellers’ tables“, he says. During the National Bookstore Meetings and even before, the French Bookstore Union demanded “a drastic drop in production», a request mainly addressed to publishers with industrial ambitions.
Frédérique Pingault agrees, emphasizing that the few declines in production, here and there, do not make it possible to modify the trajectory of a book sector launched at full speed, at the risk of going straight into the wall.
Renaud Lefebvre, general director of the National Publishing Union, recalls some figures taken from the study of the professional organization, ensuring that the final margin of publishing houses remains around 5% and that “the first sanction for a book that does not work is the publisher who suffers it“.
The distribution in question
All eyes around the round table and in the room soon turn to distribution, a link in the chain that is not represented. “Money in the book, there is some and we know where it is», assures a speaker from the public.
Parallel to the economy of the prototype which governs the book [des dépenses de création effectuées sans connaissance de la capacité du bien à rencontrer une demande, NdR] would thus have been created a “flow economy», as Christophe Hardy explains, based on the distribution of books.
“This economy of flow needs production to function, which can lead to the flooding of booksellers’ tables. Hachette Livre, for example, makes less margin than Hachette Distribution, but it is the same holding company», he raises.
At a time when Hachette is being singled out for not granting a sufficiently generous discount to booksellers and when certain booksellers are attempting a truce on new releases to question who benefits from overproduction, distribution is logically called into question.
Here too, certain smaller players, such as the independent Serendip, indicate that they do not generate a comfortable margin – it would be 0.03% for this one.
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While several speakers are demanding figures on the distribution margin – a study planned by the Ministry of Culture could remove some uncertainties on the subject – Renaud Lefebvre assures that “the gold mine may not be what you imagine“.
Taking as an example the cancellation of the transfer of the Hachette group’s Maurepas logistics site at the start of 2024, or the absence of an incentive bonus at Interforum, he specifies that the activity is also suffering from the increase in costs. wages and rising energy costs: “Let’s stop prejudging that war chests exist“, they say.
Towards a more expensive book?
If the pie cannot be shared in new ways, then perhaps a bigger pie is needed. Alexandra Charroin-Spangenberg, co-director of the Librairie de Paris in Saint-Étienne, vice-president of the SLF and president of its social commission, thus highlights the price of the book.
“If we continue to say that books must be cheaper, we will necessarily outsource jobs. There will come a time when, collectively, it will be necessary to restore value to books, to remunerate people’s work, quality work.» Soon launched into new professional negotiations, she does not hide her apprehension: “I will find myself facing people to whom I can offer nothing.»
Often lagging behind the level of inflation, the price of books has seen exceptional increases in 2022 and 2023, but booksellers are demanding a larger increase.
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Frédérique Pingault, citing the law on the single price of books of 1981, recalls that publishers, in setting the price, are required to take into account “the quality of services provided by retailers in favor of the distribution of books“. “Raising the price of books is not a bad word, and it is up to the publisher to increase sales prices in times of inflation» to guarantee the remuneration of all the actors, she assures, citing “some niches to increase», such as public domain texts in pocket format.
Voices will be raised in the room to emphasize that the works already seem expensive for a certain number of French people, when “the development of second-hand books gives a fairly clear signal about the sensitivity of some readers to price», recalls Renaud Lefebvre.
Photographs: ActuaLitté, CC BY SA 2.0
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