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New! The French-speaking Publishers’ 2005 Catalogue

At the Geneva Book Fair (from April 27 to May 1, 2005), the Alliance of Independent Publishers presented and diffused for the first time the French-speaking publishers’ 2005 Catalogue. (Check it out online).

Included in this catalogue are the following:

• a presentation of each of the 28 publishing houses, from all over the French-speaking world (from Mali to Quebec while passing by France);

• a selection of representative titles from each publisher, more than one hundred titles;

• an access by kind, title, author, publisher;

• information and contacts regarding the purchase of books, no matter who you are and where you come from!

In order to facilitate the exchange of information between book professionals (rights transfers, translations), this new tool is available in two languages: French and English.

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Afrilivres catalogue

Launching of the catalogue of Afrilivres

With more than 1 300 titles published by 54 African editors, an essential tool for professionals.

Order the Afrilivres catalogue.

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Meeting of the English-language network in London, March, 2005

Publishing countries : United Kingdom

The English-speaking network of the Alliance the Alliance of Independent Publishers is meeting in London prior to the Book Fair (http://www.lbf-virtual.com), March 10-13. Participants will come from Australia, Canada, England, India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, the United States, and Zimbabwe to discuss co-publishing projects and develop strategies for future development of this network.

This meeting has been organised in collaboration with African Books Collective, INASP, and SABDET.

A joint cocktail reception will be held at the Fair on Sunday, March 13, 2005, at British Council’s International Centre, 5 p.m. We hope to see you there.

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The Alliance in the Paris Book Fair, 2005

Publishing countries : France

The Alliance of Independent Publishers invite you in its stand at the Paris Book Fair, number L 180, March 18 to 23, 2005.

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Noureddine Ben Khader

Publishing countries : Tunisia

Cérès Publishing House (Tunisia) and the Alliance of Independent Publishers are very sad to inform you that Nourredine Ben Khader has passed away.

A great influence in the African and Tunisian book industry, “NBK” managed Cérès Publishing House for 20 years. His remarquable enthusiasm as well as his strong involvement in publishing and books made him a reference for all his friends, both in Africa and throughout the world.

We will not forget him.

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Proposals of the World Social Forum, 2005

Publishing countries : Brazil

The Alliance of Independent Publishers, in partnership with the Ford Foundation (USA - www.fordfound.org) and the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation (Swizerland - www.fph.ch), set up a copublishing project to gather the proposals that will come out of the World Social Forum context, in Porto Alegre (Brazil). To achieve this goal, the Alliance sent 11 writers to Porto Alegre, to cover the 11 themes of the 2005 WSF (see the 11 themes of the WSF on the website www.forumsocialmundial.org.br). Each writer will contribute a chapter to a book that will be copublished by the Alliance members first in French, English, and Portuguese - followed by versions in other languages.

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Enjeux Planète meeting in Brussels, December, 2004

Publishing countries : Belgium

The members of the Enjeux Planète Group will meet in Bruxelles (Belgium), 16th to 18th, Décember, 2004. The program of this meeting -organised by the Alliance of Independent Publishers and the Luc Pire Publishing House- is: checking of the past copublishing processes, planning for the 2005 and 2006 publications, signature of the collective agreement.

Participants: Bernard Stéphan (Atelier Publishing House - France), Michel Sauquet (Charles Léopold Mayer Publishing House - France), Dominique Caouette (Ecosociété Publishing House - Canada), Luc Pire (Luc Pire Publishing House - Belgium), Jean Richard (en bas Publishing House - Switzerland), Bichr Bennani (Tarik Publishing House - Moroco), Karim Ben Smail (Cérès Publishing House - Tunisia), Béatrice Lalinon Gbado (Ruisseaux d’Afrique Publishing House - Benin), Serge Dontchueng Kouam (Presses Universitaires d’Afrique - Cameroon), Marie-Agathe Amoikon-Fauquembergue (Eburnie Publishing House - Ivory Coast).

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“Littératures métisses” Festival, Angoulême, 29 - 31 May, 2004

Publishing countries : France

The Alliance of Independent Publishers accepted the invitation from the Office du Livre in Poitou-Charentes, which organized the Littératures métisses festival [multiethnic literatures festival]. A number of discussions with writers (including Alberto Ruy-Sanchez, Alberto Manguel, Theo Hahola) and publishers (Jean Richard from Editions d’en bas, Thierry Discépolo from Editions Agone, among others), along with readings by the actresses Marie-Christine Barrault and Sonia Emmanuel, were open to the public.

The Alliance of Independent Publishers took part in two discussions “Éditer autrement” [Alternative publishing] and “Éditer, produire, créer, diffuser avec l’Afrique” [Publish, produce, create and distribute with Africa]. These discussions and the booth gave good visibility to the association and its members’ co-publishing projects and provided information to the public about topics such as book distribution, the circulation of ideas, independent and united publishing and the equitable book.

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The International Book and Press Fair in Geneva, from April 28 to May 2, 2004

Publishing countries : Switzerland

The Alliance of Independent Publishers was well represented at the International Book and Press Show in Geneva, where the African Book, Press and Culture Show was held for the first time. At the event, Paris team members Etienne and Alexandre ran into publishers Jean-Claude Naba from Editions Sankofa & Gurli (Burkina Faso), Béatrice Lalinon Gbado from Editions Ruisseaux d’Afrique (Benin), Marie-Agathe Amoikon Fauquembergue from Editions Eburnie (Ivory Coast), Bichr Benanni from Editions Tarik (Morocco) and Jean Richard from Editions d’en bas (Switzerland), along with Behrouz Safdari (who runs the Persophone network) and Isabelle Bourgueil (who ran the Afrilivres program in 2002 and 2003). They were all doing well and working hard! The Alliance members had several opportunities to talk about the Alliance and the co-publishing process during round-table discussions. Numerous copies of Declarations, along with posters and other items to familiarize people with our association, were available in the African bookstore, which also offered a wide selection of titles from our member publishers. We offer special thanks to Jean and Isabelle, who worked long and hard to make the event a success. Mission accomplished: Long live the African Book Show in Geneva!

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The Alliance at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, 2004

Publishing countries : India

The workshop on independent publishing, run by Indu Chandrasekhar and held to support the formation of a network of independent Indian publishers, lived up to its billing...

Around forty people took part in the workshop.

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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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