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André Schiffrin, the Alliance has lost a fellow traveller

André Schiffrin, great independent publishing figure, passed away on this Sunday 1st December 2013 in Paris. His work and his analysis (“L’édition sans éditeurs”, “Le contrôle de la parole”…) took an essential part in the creation of the Alliance, back in the 2000s.
After running Pantheon Books (United States) during a long time, André Schiffrin left the Random House group to create in the early 90s the not-for-profit publishing house The New Press, member of the Alliance.
André Schiffrin wrote several fundamental books on independent publishing stakes, translated into many languages –as “Words and money”, the last one, copublished in the Alliance Arabic-language network by Al Intishar (Lebanon), Med Ali (Tunisia) and Atlas Publishing (Syria).

In the current context of the International Assembly of independent publishers, and remembering André Schiffrin had taken part in the Paris Assembly in 2007, the Alliance has lost a fellow traveller –his memory and his reflections will keep on being with us. Independent publishers from all over the world are paying him a tribute here.

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Walaandé, l’art de partager un mari

Author(s) : Djaïli Amadou AMAL
Publishing countries : Lebanon, Tunisia
Language(s) : Arabic

“Walaandé, the art of sharing husband”, is a novel about the hardships women from polygamous marriages face every day. The themes discussed in the book include polygamy, woman education, discrimination and violence against women, early marriage, and repudiation.

This novel is a sound testimony of women’s lives that are deeply affected by years of emotional muzzling. A novel that completely sweeps all hopes of happy tomorrows and sinks them into a day-to-day life with its constraints, its conflicts, its pressures as well as its drama, whereby the wealthy polygamous family with its variety of female characters, exhibits external signs of wealth, but in fact faces a lot of problems.

The setting is in one of the richest muslim households in Maroua. The head of the family, a wealthy businessman, is the father of many children, has a number of domestic servants and renews his harem at will and according to his adventures.

Four wives, a dozen of children and a myriad of servants are the daily actors in a household that has the necessary comfort for a luxurious life. Alas! Walaandé is instead a portrayal of their boring existence.

Behind the golden walls and beautiful fences of this luxurious palace where perfumes, colours and flowers forecast a taste of the well-being of rich people, there is finally nothing but boredom, loneliness, despair, conspiracies and jealousy. But also, this male dictatorship, this pride of the “supreme repudiator”, this husband, once very gentle when he needed to conquer his target’s heart, had described to her a beautiful life in which he instead chained her. The same love lines to Aissatou, Djaili, Nafissa, Sakina, the same become a set of disappointments for all of them.

This novel, like any other work of art, is inspired from real life whereby lives and delights, charms and tears, worries and frustrations paralyse women energies and distort their beauties, once very irresistible. The reverse of polygamy as described in this realistic novel echoes the long muzzled sigh of many females who dreamt in their early ages of a wealthy lover with perfumed and luxurious cars, but finally find themselves trapped in the external appearance of this comfort.

Djaïli Amadou AMAL is North Cameroon’s first female author. She is a young Peulhe woman, with an Egyptian mother. These mixed origins have probably enabled her to write more freely, just to write, and, what is more, on a subject up to now taboo in her society, polygamous marriage, which is known to be closely related to the premature marriage of young girls.
Djaïli Amadou AMAL undoubtedly forms part of the elite of the new movement of regional Cameroonian authors. Her novel has already been reprinted in less than six months. She attracted great attention on a tour of Cameroon and Chad visiting the Alliance Française network to discuss the theme of polygamy.

Year of publication: 2013, 144 pages, 16,5 X 21,5 cm, ISBN: 978-614-404-419-3
First publication: 2010, éditions Ifrikiya, Cameroon

The translation and co-publishing of “Walaandé, l’art de partager un mari” have been supported by the Prince Claus Fund.

Back cover of Walaandé, l'art de partager un mari

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The International Committee of independent publishers in Paris, 17-19 October 2013

Publishing countries : France

The International Committee of independent publishers (ICIP) will gather in Paris from the 17th to the 19th October, at the BULAC (University Library of the languages and the civilizations), for its annual meeting. What’s on for these days: publishers presentations and analysis of the first conclusions (tools and recommendations) of the workshops of the International Assembly of the independent publishers; preparation of the general meeting which will close the Assembly in Cape Town in September 2014.

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Diffusion of human and social sciences books: What innovative strategies to succeed?, 13 - 15 October 2013, Frankfurt (Germany)

After Guadalajara in November 2012, Paris and Bologna in March 2013 and Ouagadougou in June 2013, the sixth workshop of the International Assembly of Independent Publishers will be held in Frankfurt, from 13 to 15 October 2013, on the issue of “Diffusion of human and social sciences books: what innovative strategies?”.

15 publishers from Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa will share experiences and knowledge in order to question the solutions offered by digital possibilities for the diffusion of their books, to share some tools, and to develop translation and co-publishing projects.

This workshop is organized in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, and with the support of the Fondation de France, the Centre national du livre and the Goethe-Institut in South Africa.

You can follow the International Assembly of Independent Publishers here !

Publishers will also be present throughout the Frankfurt Book Fair (from 9 to 13 October) on their respective stand and / or the stand of the International Alliance of independent publishers (hall 5.0 D111)

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Loin de mon père

Author(s) : Véronique TADJO ; préface d'Emmanuel DONGALA
Publishing countries : Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Rwanda, Togo
Language(s) : French
Price : 2 500 FCFA ; 45 DM ; 3 300 RWF

Collection Terres solidaires

Created in 2007, the “Terres solidaires” collection is a collective experience. It proposes literary texts from African authors, published by a collective of publishers in Francophone Africa, Through the principle of solidarity co-publishing, texts circulate, are available and accessible for African readers: the local book ecosystem is protected and strengthened.
The “Terres solidaires” collection is supported by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

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La civilisation, ma mère !...

Author(s) : Driss CHRAÏBI ; préface Abdelkader DJEMAÏ
Publishing countries : Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Togo
Language(s) : French
Price : 2 500 FCFA ; 400 DA

Collection Terres solidaires

Created in 2007, the “Terres solidaires” collection is a collective experience. It proposes literary texts from African authors, published by a collective of publishers in Francophone Africa, Through the principle of solidarity co-publishing, texts circulate, are available and accessible for African readers: the local book ecosystem is protected and strengthened.
The “Terres solidaires” collection is supported by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

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The Alliance at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 9-13 October 2013

Publishing countries : Germany

The Alliance team is inviting you at the stand hall 5.0, number D111 – a collective stand shared with the Alliance members – to learn about the association, meet independent publishers and familiarise yourself with their outputs.

Please do not hesitate to contact us to book an appointment with the Alliance team and/or a publisher member of the Alliance.

The presence of the Alliance in Frankfurt does not end there: from October 13 to 15, and in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Fondation de France and the Centre national du livre, the Alliance will facilitate the 6th workshop of the International Assembly of Independent Publishers, under the theme “Diffusion of human and social sciences works: What innovative strategies to get what you want ?”. This workshop will convene 15 independent publishers from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. For more information on the 2013-2014 Assembly, click here.

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What are you doing on September 21st, International Day of Bibliodiversity?

Independent publishers are inviting you to celebrate the 4th edition of the B Day, International Day of Bibliodiversity!
In Argentina, Cameroon, Chile, Guiney Conakry, Madagascar, Peru… and elsewhere, independent publishers, booksellers, and readers, will bring publishing diversity alive.

Follow the activities of the 2013 B Day here and find out here the 2013 B Day video!

Do not forget to send us information regarding the initiatives that will be taking place in your country on B Day, so we can diffuse it!

The video of the B Day 2013!

Download and diffuse B Day logo

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Diez lecciones sobre estudios culturales

Author(s) : Maria Elisa CEVASCO ; trad. René PALACIOS MORE
Publishing countries : Argentina, Chile, Uruguay
Language(s) : Spanish
Price : 290 pesos Uruguay

The translation and the co-publishing of “Estudios culturales” have been supported by the Prince Claus Fund.

Publication: 2013, 136 pages, 16 X 23 cm
ISBN (Uruguay): 978-9974-32-613-2
ISBN (Argentina): 978-950-889-226-3
First publication: 2012

Diez lecciones sobre estudios culturales
Version Argentine (la marca editora)

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Bibliodiversity Observatory

Precariousness of independent publishing

Order this issue in digital format here (in French)
Sale price (digital format - PDF): 5 euros
ISBN: 978-2-490855-64-3
Published: 15 October 2024

All the responses to the international survey on the precariousness of independent publishers featured in this issue can be read in the PDF document opposite.

Watch the replay of the round table on precariousness organised in September 2024 as part of the Babelica Book Fair.

The Bibliodiversité review is co-published by Double ponctuation and the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

See all previous issues of the review here (“Transmission and renewal”, “Inclusion and Diversity in the Book Industry”, “The Alternatives. Ecology, social economy: the future of the book?”, “Minority Languages”, “Public Book Policies”, “Self-Publishing”, “Publishing and Commitment”, “Translation and Globalization”...).

Presentation
Although independent publishing houses (with their authors) are at the heart of the creative process, they are the ones most vulnerable to insecurity. Publishers hold down several jobs in order to stay in business, earn little or nothing, are caught up in a book market that encourages overproduction, and are under-represented and under-defended.

Independent publishing is becoming increasingly precarious. And yet its contribution to bibliodiversity is well-known. Genuine “venture capitalists”, independent publishers spot the talents of tomorrow and give a voice to minorities - much more so than other publishing structures. They play an important role in the intellectual, artistic and democratic life of a country.

How can we better support independent publishing and the talent it represents? In addition to their questions, analyses and personal accounts, the contributors to this innovative issue put forward a series of proposals to combat the precariousness of independent publishing.

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Reading (r)evolutions (changing practices and technologies) / call for contributions

Read the call for stories and contributions - Bibliodiversité review, issue 12, to be published in March-April 2025.

Please contact us (equipe@alliance-editeurs.org) if you would like to submit a contribution to the Bibliodiversité review devoted to “Reading (r)evolutions (changing practices and technologies)”.

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Mapping public book policies in the Arab world

In 2017, publishers who are members of the Alliance along with academics and experts united to collectively produce some research on Public Book Policies in Latin America and in Sub-Saharan Africa. This has since been converted into a unique digital, graphic and interactive tool for informing and centralising data on the public support systems for books and reading in 22 countries.

In 2024, the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, thanks to the support of Open Society Foundation, extends this project to the Arab world for a better understanding of public authorities’ commitment to books and reading in the different countries of the Arab world. To this end, data is collected in 10 countries based on a common questionnaire. The data will then be presented on the dedicated website for each country. A cross-sectional analysis will be carried out on the basis of these data; the Alliance is looking for an author to draft this cross-sectional analysis.

Deadline to apply (equipe@alliance-editeurs.org): 31 May 2024

This unique and important work! The mapping and the analysis will be presented publicly in December 2024 or January 2025 to professionals and representatives of public authorities in the countries.

Read more here (in Arabic) / see on the right the English version for download

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Brief Manual of Best Practices for Public Book Procurement

“It is important to understand the key role that the public procurement of books plays–similar to that of roads in a country’s development–and the related impacts of these actions on the ecosystem of books, culture, and education.

In purchasing books and socializing the processes of reading, the state’s actions may have numerous impacts. The selection of books is not only a question of quality and price, nor is it a simple technical process or an isolated action.”

This document is based on the Brevísimo manual de buenas prácticas para las compras públicas de libros (print and digital) that was included in the work of the Comisión de Compras Públicas de la Política Nacional de la Lectura y el Libro 2015-2020 (Chile), prepared by Paulo Slachevsky, coordinator of the commission. We are grateful to Germán Gacio Baquiola for his critical feedback and contributions.

Read the Manual

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Manual de buenas prácticas para las compras públicas de libros

“Una buena política de adquisición de libros por parte del Estado tiene múltiples y significativos impactos en el desarrollo cultural, social, económico y político de un país […] Por todo ello es tan importante mejorar, incrementar, trasparentar, desconcentrar y fortalecer la presencia de autoras/es y editoriales locales en los procesos de compras públicas de libros. También analizar, revisar y diversificar constantemente las áreas en que se centran los gastos, como los libros de textos que concentran generalmente gran parte del gasto público en libros.”

Este documento reproduce, con algunas modificaciones, el Brevísimo Manual de buenas prácticas para las compras públicas de libros (en papel y en formato digital) que fue incorporado al trabajo de la Comisión de Compras Públicas - Política Nacional de la Lectura y el Libro 2015-2020 (Chile), realizado por Paulo Slachevsky (LOM Ediciones, Chile) como coordinador de la Comisión. Este manual ha sido revisado por Germán Gacio Baquiola (Editores independientes de Ecuador).

Leer el manual

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Solidarity co-publishing: history and mechanisms (2023)

“Co-publishing is a reminder of the extent to which solidarity is the main factor in the successful realisation of any project. It is a symbol of the strength that can be found when several publishers unite together. The book becomes much cheaper, accessible to the maximum number of readers and reaches several countries at the same time.” Lilian Thuram

For more than twenty years, independent publishing houses that are members of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers have collaborated, sharing resources and know-how and developing solidarity co-publishing.

To record and preserve this expertise, the Alliance is going back to the beginnings of solidarity co-publishing and presenting the history of a pioneering collection, “Terres solidaires”, as well as the story of the publication of one of its titles.

With this document, the Alliance also wishes to reaffirm the need for solidarity co-publishing in order to:
disseminate texts (thereby helping expand the literary ecosystem);
strengthen local book industries;
make books more accessible to readers (adapted price).

Thank you very much to Armand Jamme for writing this document and to Mariette Robbes for its graphic design and illustration.

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Transmission and renewal. How do we ensure the continued existence of businesses in the book trade?

Order this issue in digital format here (in French).

Sale price (digital format - PDF): 5 euros
ISBN: 978-2-490855-51-3

Published: 23 March 2023

The Bibliodiversité review is co-published by Double ponctuation and the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

See all previous issues of the review here (“Inclusion and Diversity in the Book Industry”, “The Alternatives. Ecology, social economy: the future of the book?”, “Minority Languages”, “Public Book Policies”, “Self-Publishing”, “Publishing and Commitment”, “Translation and Globalization”...).

Presentation
Many independent publishers and bookshops are faced with the question of the transmission of their businesses, and sometimes struggle to find someone to take them on. This not only impacts the individuals concerned. Given the extent to which, as a generation leaves the world of work, the phenomenon is gaining momentum in Europe as well as Latin America and Africa, the future of a certain idea of the book is also at stake.

But is transmission necessary? And if yes, to who, when and how? Are there differences between the transmission of a publishing house or bookshop and that of other businesses? In a sector undergoing great change, the giving up of a business in the book industry poses a broader question about the capacity for renewal of cultural organisations – of their people, practices and content – but also about the integration of legislative, societal and technological changes.

Here, a collection of texts tackles from different points of view this essential yet under-studied subject. More than a practical guide – something it appears it would be difficult to write, given the variety of situations encountered – in this issue we seek above all to share academic analyses and accounts of experiences to help us reflect on the notion of renewal and think about these transmissions.

Read an excerpt from this issue, published by ActuaLitté: the testimony of Colleen Higgs, Modjaji Books in South Africa

Contents (in French)

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Presentation

Solidarity co-publishing and translations contribute to the circulation of content and exchange of ideas. Solidarity co-publishing makes it possible for the activities and costs associated with publishing and printing to be shared, which means that books can be made available to wider audiences at a fair price. Solidarity co-publishing partnerships bring structure to the book market in the medium term: distributing texts in often inaccessible areas, reinforcing professional capabilities, developing catalogues, and enabling fair professional and commercial exchanges between the North and South and the development of innovative exchanges and partnerships between countries in the South. Here, independent publishers share their experiences and encourage public authorities to support and assist solidarity publishing partnerships.

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Guide to good practice

Why have a Guide?
This Guide is based on ideas, discussions, round tables and workshops prior to and during the International Conference of Independent Publishers in Pamplona-Iruñea (23-26 November 2021).

The objectives of this guide are to:
• suggest lines of approach and actions for publishers who are members of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, and to book professionals more broadly;
• help implement and put into practice the principles and values defended by the Alliance’s members;
• illustrate these principles using examples (experience, projects, ideas, etc. from professionals) which may serve as sources of inspiration.

How?
The “entries” in this Guide are thematic. Given that the intention of the Guide is to present in a practical way the principles of the Pamplona-Iruñea Declaration, the main entries are currently as follows:
• decolonial publishing
• ecological publishing
• feminist and LGBTQI+ publishing
• free publishing
• social publishing
• solidarity-based publishing

This Guide will evolve; its form is not fixed. Indeed, several of the Guide’s entries require input that will come from the work of the thematic working groups which will be tasked with making suggestions and enhancing these entries. It will then be possible to update and adapt the Guide over time in line with the evolution of practices and ideas inside the Alliance (in particular through post-conference thematic working groups).

Prerequisite
The Alliance is a unique intercultural network, whose specificity and strength lie in respect for diversity.
Kindness, curiosity, listening and respect for points of view, as well as equal opportunities for speech, must be the basis of every exchange within the Alliance. There can be no place for hate speech or non-inclusive discourse, which would be against the fundamental principles of the Alliance.
This prerequisite is the basis on which the Alliance’s members organise themselves and work together – on the creation of this Guide, among other things.

Warning
The Guide to Good Practice is intended as food for thought and discussion. It cannot commit the publishers who are members of the Alliance to all the proposals and recommendations it contains. Indeed, the International Alliance of Independent Publishers is aware of the geographical diversity of its members and, consequently, of their cultural diversity. It is also fully aware of the impossibility of implementing certain measures (e.g. on book ecology, etc.) in some countries for many reasons related to the political, social, economic, cultural environment…

Read the Guide

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