To be an independent publisher is to question the world, to help make sense of it, today and tomorrow
At a time when every country in the world is affected by the pandemic, we, as independent publishers around the world, are experiencing diverse health, social and economic situations. We are facing different realities, in different timeframes: immediate risks for some sections of the population (India, Madagascar, Indonesia...); a pandemic that strikes in contexts of already established political crisis (Haiti, Egypt, Syria...); the near absence or delayed implementation of public book policies (Cameroon, Gabon...); the resilience of independent publishing houses in the face of big corporations (Australia...).... While our contexts are diverse, our concerns remain collective: fragility of independent structures, uncertainty about the future, concern about possible abuses (surveillance society, pressure on employees, online teaching and learning, etc.).
We are in perpetual questioning, trying to understand our world: what to do, how, with whom, at what pace?
We need time to understand, to comprehend – which we had planned to do by 2021, as well as our “Rethink and Celebrate” Conference. REthink: to remain a conscious and creative actor, to act, in terms of ecology, social and solidarity economy, new approaches to readers, cooperative practices between professionals, freedom of publishing, fair speech...
Read more below...
See also:
Public book policies website
Read the text in Arabic:
The International Alliance of Independent Publishers and publishers from the Spanish-language network pay tribute to the memory of the Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda, who died on 16 April 2020 in Oviedo (Spain) as a result of the Coronavirus, after several weeks in hospital.
The Ibero-American Book Fair in Gijón, organised and directed by Luis Sepúlveda for more than a decade, was the setting for the creation of the first network of Spanish-language independent publishers, and the first meeting of Latin American independent publishers was held in 2000.
As a result, the International Alliance of Independent Publishers and the Association of Independent Publishers of Chile, now Editores de Chile, were formed.
Today we pay tribute to a man of generosity, solidarity and commitment to building a more just and humane world.
Author(s) : Djaïli Amadou AMAL
Publishing countries : Republic of Guinea, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Togo
Price : 3 000 FCFA ; 40 000 francs guinéens
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).
The first videos of the Conference here: Abidjan (May 2019); Santiago de Chile (October 2019)
The Conference is a process carried out over 3 years. It has commenced in 2019, with several workshops and meetings: Madrid (April 2019), Geneva (May 2019), Abidjan (May 2019), Santiago de Chile (October 2019).
The Conference will continue well into 2020… to end in 2021 in Pamplona, Basque Country.
In 2021, the Alliance will celebrate its 20 years of existence!
Follow the Conference on the Alliance website and social networks!
Convened in Santiago de Chile on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of October 2019, during the Spring of the Book (Primavera del Libro) and the International Conference of Independent Publishers (2019-2021), the Spanish-language network of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers (IAIP) declares:
And commits towards:
The aim is to strengthen book ecosystems locally by involving all relevant actors, and to promote a book culture in our societies, a necessary condition to escape manipulation and to build democratic societies for critical and committed citizens.
We call on all independent publishers who share these statements to sign this declaration:
To sign the “Declaration of Santiago de Chile on independent publishing serving communities and diversity”, please contact the Alliance’ team.
Through a partnership with the Editores de Chile collective and publishers member of the Alliance in Latin America and Spain, more than 15 publishers from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Equator, Spain, Mexico and Peru met in Chile, for a 2-day meeting, in the margins of the 8th Primavera del Libro.
These workshops and meetings are part of the activities of the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021: “Rethinking independent publishing, celebrating bibliodiversity!”
On this occasion, the Alliance launched, in Chile, the results of the previously unpublished analysis carried out on public book policies in Latin America.
The cross-cutting analysis of public book policies in Latin America is available in Spanish on the Alliance website, and in French in the special issue of Bibliodiversity Journal focusing on public book policies.
The activities carried out in Santiago de Chile were supported by the collective Editores de Chili, the 8th Primavera del Libro, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Chile, the Providencia municipality and the Providencia Cultural Funds.
The ICIP will meet to discuss a major event in the life of the Alliance: the International Conference of Independent Publishers 2019-2021!
This meeting will focus on developing the content, subjects and objectives of the Conference: several actors, structures and partners are therefore invited to the ICIP meeting, to listen to a diversity of voices, to share concerns, learn from what is done elsewhere, be challenged, discover… to broaden our horizons and build this Conference together, pushing us to rethink!
Topics under discussion include: ecology and publishing, agriculture and publishing, (ongoing) unbalanced relationships between the South and the North…
Read the programme and the list of participants here!
The Alliance thanks the Centre national du livre, la Maison des Métallos and the Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer for providing venues for our meetings.
Discover here the HotList 2019!
Thanks to a partnership with Kurt Wolff Stiftung (the German collective of independent publishers, member of the Alliance) and the Frankfurt Book Fair, independent Latin American publishers in Frankfurt will be exhibiting at the “Reading Island for Independent Publishers” stand (Hall 4.1), twenty books of various genres: novels, short stories, art books, essays, children’s literature... from Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Mexico!
Context:
- 2009: The members of EDINAR (a group of Argentinian independent publishers) present a selection of the best books from their list at the Buenos Aires Book Fair. This selection is then promoted in independent bookstores across Buenos Aires.
- 2010: Argentina is the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. To make sure Argentinian independent publishing is well represented, the Argentinian independent publishers, in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, present a HotList at the stand of independent German publishers, showcasing the diversity and quality of their books.
- 2017: The HotList 2017 opens to independent publishers from Latin America! Thanks to the collaboration with the collective Kurt Wolff Stiftung, a selection of about 40 titles from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay is exhibited in Frankfurt on the “Reading Island” (Hall 4.1 / D36).
- 2018: Following the success of the 2017 edition, the HotList 2018 is back and opens to Brazilian publishers. In addition, a thematic and international selection is launched: this year, the theme of “women’s struggle” is selected in the “WomenList”, showcasing more than 30 titles edited by independent publishing houses from all continents.
- 2019: The International Alliance of independent publishers and the Kurt Wolff Stiftung collective offer a new edition of the HotList. Some twenty books (novels, essays, children’s books, comics, art books) will be exposed at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2019. A colourful and powerful HotList this year!
Here is the 9th edition of the B Day, let yourself be hooked by the books!
Share the video of the B Day 2019!
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.
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)”.
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
“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
“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
“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.
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)
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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