English

The Alliance

Unidad versus el 1%. Rompiendo ilusiones, sembrando libertad

Author(s) : Vandana Shiva ; Kartikey Shiva ; Rodolfo Lastra Muela (trad.)
Publishing countries : Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia
Language(s) : Spanish

In Latin America, Unidad versus el 1% is co-published simultaneously by Econautas Editorial (Argentina), LOM ediciones (Chile), Editorial Mate (Argentina), Plural Editores (Bolivia) and Taller de Edición Rocca (Colombia).
For translation © Editorial Popular, S. A., Madrid, 2019.

The original version of this book was published in 2018 as Oneness vs. the 1% by Women Unlimited in India (co-published with Spinifex in Australia and New Internationalist in the UK).

Find here the interview with Vandana Shiva on the occasion of the launch of the Latin American co-publishing on 19 June 2021.

ISBN Argentina (Econautas Editorial): 978-987-46301-9-3
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ISBN Chile (LOM ediciones): 978-956-00-1379-8
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ISBN Argentina (Editorial Mate): 978-987-9199-29-x
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Babelica, 20-22 September 2023, online: discover the Babelica program!

Babelica, the international online book fair of independent publishing, will take place from 20 to 22 September - 21 September is the Bibliodiversity Day!

Babelica is a unique and original project to promote bibliodiversity, conceived and hosted by the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

Discover the Babelica program here!

Babelica is a book fair dedicated to books published by independent publishing houses. It is designed to raise awareness of the variety of voices in international publishing and ensure they are heard, so as to promote diversity and creativity. At Babelica, a selection of titles from the many books published by independent publishers are being presented.
The Babelica book fair is available online throughout the year, from 20 September 2023 until the next edition in 2024.

Babelica is also a space for debate, exchange and discussion between book professionals, academics, readers, those who are simply curious, and more. The program of round tables, talks and readings offered in 2023 has been developed by publishers who are members and/or close of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers (see program).
To listen again to the round tables from Babelica in 2022, click here.

Babelica is an opportunity for exchanges of rights: join us on 21 September for the event dedicated to literature and human sciences, opportunities for publishers to present the titles from their catalogues to the book professionals present.
Away from this event, if you are interested in buying or selling rights, you can contact publishing houses directly via the Babelica platform.

Finally, Babelica is a place for exchanging know-how and practices, a place for experimentation: therefore, from October 2023 workshops will take place to complement Babelica’s talks and round tables, to delve deeper and develop themes such as digital, discoverability, artificial intelligence and book ecology in small working groups.

For this second edition, the Babelica platform, which will be revealed in September, has been entirely redesigned and updated to reduce its environmental footprint.

Babelica is supported by the Agence française de développement (AFD Campus) and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

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Tehran Book Fair, Uncensored, Europe and North America, 4 May - 6 June 2023

The 7th Tehran Book Fair, Uncensored, will be held from May 4 to June 6 in 17 European and American cities.

The aim of the exhibition is to provide an opportunity for authors and publishers who would be censored or banned in Iran to speak out freely and present their work.

All the information can be found here.

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’Independent publishing: meeting, showing solidarity and acting together in Latin America’, round table, Buenos Aires International Book Fair (Argentina), 27 April 2023

Several independent publishers from Latin America will attend the 47th edition of the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, 27 April-15 May 2023, where the guest of honour city this year is Santiago de Chile.

The Editoriales de Chile collective and the Alliance are organising a round table event there on 27 April at midday (local time): “Independent publishing: meeting, showing solidarity and acting together in Latin America”, with the participation of Maria-Paz Morales (Dudo Ediciones/Editoriales de Chile) and Germán Gacio Baquiola (Corredor Sur Editores / Editores independientes de Ecuador) and Andrés Bracony (Tinta Limón, Argentina), moderated by Paulo Slachevsky (LOM Ediciones / coordinator of the Alliance’s Spanish-language network).

Find out more: The Buenos Aires International Book Fair

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Workshop on promotional tools and creating communities of readers, and a focus on solidarity co-publishing, Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), 9-13 May, 2023

At the Salon International du Livre d’Abidjan/International Book Fair of Abidjan (SILA), the Alliance is organising a workshop targeted at book professionals from some fifteen publishing houses from francophone Africa. The workshop, led by Tchonté Silué, will cover the following themes: creating and managing a community of readers, using social networks, creating audio-visual content (videos, podcasts) and hosting book groups.
There will be a project fair where publishers will be able to present their catalogues with the intention of agreeing transfers of rights and establishing co-publishing projects. This project fair will be accompanied by an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience of solidarity co-publishing.

These events, organised thanks to the support of the Orange Foundation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, will be attended by the finalists of the Orange Book Award in Africa as well as by some ten publishing houses from francophone Africa who are members of the Alliance. The winner of the Orange Book Award in Africa will be announced during the book fair.

See all the SILA’s activities here.

See the programme of events organised by the Alliance here:

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Happy New Year 2023!

In 2023, let’s continue building a world with more solidarity, sharing ideas and defending bibliodiversity!

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Illustration by Mariette Robbes

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’Typography, composition, correction’ workshop and meetings on editorial partnerships, 7-11 November 2022, Conakry (Guinea)

As part of the Conakry International Children’s Book Fair (7-10 November 2022), initiated and coordinated by Ganndal in Guinea, some twenty publishing houses from French-speaking Africa are meeting in Conakry for a training programme tailored to the needs of the finalists of the Orange Book Prize in Africa and the members of the Alliance.

These meetings are designed through a partnership with the Orange Foundation and the support of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

The meetings in Conakry will be structured in several stages:

  • a workshop on “Typography, composition, correction”
  • a workshop on publishing partnerships in the French-speaking world followed by exchanges on publishers’ catalogues
  • working sessions between the publishing houses involved in the “Terres solidaires” collection (deliberations of the Reading Committee and choice of the next titles in the collection in particular)

The participants will also take part in the inauguration of the Fair and will exhibit their country’s children’s books during the Fair.

Read the programme and see the list of participants here!

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Meeting of the International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP), 25-27 October 2022, Paris

The International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP), composed of the coordinators of the language networks of the Alliance, will meet face-to-face in Paris from 25 to 27 October.

This meeting is essential in the life of the Alliance: it is an opportunity to define the activities of the Alliance for the period to come; to work on the governance of the association; to take decisions on strategic issues for the association.

The programme is available here!

Visual: Mariette Robbes

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Bibliodiversity Observatory

Publishing in Persian Language, a groundbreaking study on publishing in the Persian language

Publishing in Persian language presents a comprehensive and current overview of publishing in Persian language, in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, but also in the diaspora in Europe and the United States.
Articles, penned by Ali Amiri, Beytolah Biniaz, Masoud Hosseinipour, Farid Moradi, Laetitia Nanquette and Dilshad Rakhimov, enable an understanding of editorial markets through historical, economic, political and cultural perspectives.
This study sheds light on the work and publishing list of several independent publishers in Persian language, and thus enabling professional and intercultural exchanges.
Publishing in Persian language is available in Persian and English, and openly accessible on the Website of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, in PDF, ePub and MOBI formats.

Summary of the study:
• Introduction, Beytolah Biniaz
• History of publishing in Iran, Farid Moradi
• Panorama of independent publishing in Iran, Farid Moradi
• Structure of the book market in Iran, Farid Moradi
• Cultural exchanges and translations between Iran and France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, Laetitia Nanquette
• Persian language publishers in Europe, Farid Moradi
• Publishing in Afghanistan, Ali Amiri
• Panorama of publishing in Tajikistan, Dilshad Rakhimov
• Publishing in Persian language in Uzbekistan, Farid Moradi and Masoud Hosseinipour

Publishing in Persian language, “État des lieux de l’édition” collection (Reports on the publishing world), International Alliance of independent publishers, 2015.
ISBN: 978-2-9519747-7-7 (Persian version)
ISBN: 978-2-9519747-8-4 (English version)

Publishing in Persian language was made possible through the support of the Prince Claus Fund. We thank all contributors, publishers, and professionals who participated to this collective endeavour –and particularly Sonbol Bahmanyar for the coordination of the study.

Collection État des lieux de l’édition

Read the study in MOBI format_in Persian

Read the study in MOBI format_in English

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Publishing in Africa: From independence to the present day, by Walter Bgoya and Mary Jay, 2013

Indigenous publishing is integral to national identity and development: cultural, social, and economic. Such publishing reflects a people’s history and experience, belief systems, and their concomitant expressions through language, writing, and art. In turn, a people’s interaction with other cultures is informed by their published work. Publishing preserves, enhances, and develops a society’s culture and its interaction with others. In Africa, indigenous publishers continue to seek autonomy to pursue these aims: free from the constraints of the colonial past, the strictures of economic structural adjustment policies, the continuing dominance of multinational publishers (particularly in textbooks), regressive language policies, and lack of recognition by African governments of the economic and cultural importance of publishing. African publishers seek to work collectively, to harness the digital age, and to take their place in the international marketplace on equal terms, Africa’s own voice.

This article, by Walter Bgoya and Mary Jay, was originally published in Research in African Literatures, vol. 44, no. 2, Summer 2013, 17-34, published by Indiana University Press.

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The Independent publisher

The socio-economic environment, historical approach and political context are only some of the factors to consider in appreciating, in all its complexity and diversity, the notion of an independent publisher. Independent publishers in Chile, France, Benin, Lebanon, or India work in specific contexts that have direct consequences on their activities. However, although the situation differs from one country to another, it is possible to agree on some criteria in order to define what is an independent publisher. Independent publishers develop their editorial policy freely, autonomously, and without external interference. They are not the mouthpieces for a political party, religion, institution, communication group, or company. The structure of capital and the shareholders identity also affect their independence: the takeover of publishing houses by big companies not linked to publishing and implementation of profit-driven policies often result in a loss of independence and a shift in publishing orientation. Independent publishers, as defined by the Alliance’s publishers, are originating publishers: through their often-innovative publishing choices, freedom of speech, publishing and financial risk-taking, they participate in discussions, distribution, and development of their readers’ critical thinking. In this regard, they are key players in bibliodiversity.

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What new book donation practices in Africa?, IFLA Congress, Lyon (France), 16-22 August 2014

At the 80th IFLA Congress (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), from 16 to 22 August 2014 in Lyon (France), the International Alliance of independent publishers will present a paper on “What new book donation practices can meet the needs of young African readers in libraries?”
This analysis on book donation practices and their impact both on the readers and book industry in French-speaking Africa, is written by Marie Michèle RAZAFINTSALAMA (éditions Jeunes malgaches, Madagascar) and the Alliance team. She is continuing the research and advocacy work begun a number of years ago by a group of publisher-members of the Alliance on book donation challenges for bibliodiversity. This paper is an extension to the workshop on book donations held in March 2013 in Paris (International Assembly of independent publishers).

To read the paper “What new book donation practices can meet the needs of young African readers in libraries?” (IFLA 2014), see here.

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Bibliodiversity

Bibliodiversity is cultural diversity applied to the world of books. Echoing biodiversity, it refers to the critical diversity of products (books, scripts, eBooks, apps, and oral literature) made available to readers. Bibliodiversity is a complex, self-sustaining system of storytelling, writing, publishing, and other kinds of production of oral and written literature. The writers and producers are comparable to the inhabitants of an ecosystem. Bibliodiversity contributes to a thriving life of culture and a healthy eco-social system. While large publishers do contribute to publishing diversity through the quantitative importance of their production, it is not enough to guarantee bibliodiversity, which is not only measured by the number of titles available.
Independent publishers, even if they consider their publishing houses’ economic balance, are above all concerned with the content of published products. Independent publishers’ books bring a different outlook and voice, as opposed to the more standardised publications offered by major groups. Independent publishers’ books and other products and their preferred diffusion channels (independent booksellers, among others) are therefore essential to preserve and strengthen plurality and the diffusion of ideas. The word bibliodiversity was invented by Chilean publishers, during the creation of the “Editores independientes de Chile” collective in the late 1990s. The International Alliance of independent publishers significantly contributed to the diffusion and promotion of this notion in several languages, including through the Dakar Declaration (2003), Guadalajara Declaration (2005), Paris Declaration (2007), Cape Town Declaration (2014) and the Pamplona-Iruñea Declaration (2021). Since 2010, International Bibliodiversity Day is celebrated on 21 September.

See the article “Bibliodiversity” on Wikipedia.
The article also exists in French, Spanish and Portuguese.

The bibliodiversity, in pictures!

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Predation

Container full of books inundating the market, books produced in another cultural setting given away free to readers or public libraries, the setup of local branches by publishing groups from abroad aiming to achieve monopoly conditions… Drawing on some examples of practices with damaging consequences to the publishing market in developing countries, Étienne Galliand (founder of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers) presents an overview of the predation to which emerging markets are subjected directly or indirectly. An edifying panorama.

As a complement to this article, you can consult the Guidelines for Fair Publishing Partnerships (in French).

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Local and national languages: What opportunities for publishing?, 11 to 13 June 2013, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

While many African languages exist, publishing in local languages is almost inexistent because of the inherited dominance of colonial languages. However, some publishing houses publish in local languages and by doing so reach an often isolated readership. To preserve texts, promote authors, and widely circulate ideas, some publishers wished to meet to facilitate a flow of translations from one African language to another, to develop bilingual or trilingual co-publishing projects – representatives of Africa’s linguistic diversity.

How can we implement these projects? How can new technologies enable them? From an inventory of publishing practices in national and local languages, carried out by participants especially for this workshop, publishers will propose collective editorial projects that could be implemented in the years to come with the support of the Alliance, amongst others. The creation of an African language book fair will also be at the heart of discussions: this fair could represent the next meeting opportunity for public authorities and lead to measures that promote learning and publishing in national languages.
Through sharing experiences amongst eight African publishers and input from various participants, the workshop’s issues include:
* raising public authorities’ awareness on the development of learning in national languages;
* drafting practical proposals addressed to organisations working for the advancement of local languages;
* formulating recommendations addressed to book professionals and advocating for the creation of a local languages book fair and the development of African language publishing projects.
This workshop is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

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African youth literature: what visibility on the international market?

Publishing countries : Italy

From 2009 to 2015, the Alliance developed, on request of publisher members, a modest diffusion and distribution activity in France of youth literature published in Africa (“Lectures d’Afrique(s)”) . This fund addresses a double issue: make literary production published in Africa accessible and visible in the Northern market Northern market and, more modestly, participate in a rebalancing of commercial flow between South and North.
The youth sector, expanding in many regions in the world, is strategic in countries where publishing is emergent – it is indeed through youth literature that tomorrow’s readerships are formed. While catering to their local readership, publishers in Africa also wish to be known internationally. Their participation at book fairs in the North, for instance the Youth Book and Press Fair in Seine-Saint-Denis, reveals the presence of a readership on the Northern markets.

Although African literary output is sold to the general public in the North, is it bought in the context of fairs dedicated to right sells? What are the necessary prerequisites to participate in these professional fairs? Would African literature find buyers?

In partnership with Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Alliance convened eight African publishers in Bologna from the 23rd to the 27th of March 2013.

Through experience sharing and the intervention of a literary agent specialised in rights transfer (mainly at the service of small youth publishing houses), publishers will also work on the following items:
• Identify relevant catalogues for copyrights transfer;
• Develop marketing tools to better present one’s production;
• Negotiate rights and follow-up with business contacts…

Publishers will also reflect on publishing standards in the design and production of books, standards that could facilitate access to international markets while posing a production standardisation risk. How can we reconcile publishing on two levels simultaneously, addressing a local readership and also an international one?

A session of the workshop will focus on the development of an advocacy document proposing a series of recommendations aimed at book fairs to support the attendance of publishers from the South.

Finally, this meeting will be the occasion for a projects fair, a “mini Bologna” that could lead to translation proposals, rights transfers and co publishing projects. Some of these projects could thereafter be supported by the Alliance.

As an extension to this workshop, meetings with publishers and organisations supporting youth publishing were held during the Fair, providing an opportunity to concretely illustrate the reflection processes carried out over the two previous days, to better discover and understand the workings and mechanisms of a Fair such as Bologna’s. We hope that this support will enable publishers to renew and assure their participation in the long term… and ultimately, that African youth literature will be more visible on international markets.

The Alliance warmly acknowledges the support of Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Fondation de France, Centre national du livre and the Institut français of Madagascar, essential to the implementation of this workshop.

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