The Day B 2011, discover various articles around the world!
The meeting of Iranian publishers of the Persian diaspora, gathered in Paris by the Alliance in June 2011, was the subject of an article on the online site of BBC Persian. Read the article here!
The journalist Walter van Teefelen interview the Alliance. Read the article published online in June 2011!
The study on digital publishing in developing countries co-ordinated by the Alliance has sparked wide media interest and been the subject of several articles and interviews:
In an article published in “Livres Hebdo” on 27 May 2011, the journalist Catherine Andreucci previewed Octavio Kulesz’s study on digital publishing in the developing countries.
Quote: “[...] the Argentinean publisher, founder of the digital publishing house Editorial Teseo and the network Digital minds, overturns traditional thinking by shedding a completely new light on the dynamism and the potential of non-Western countries, looking at specific uses of technologies according to local situations.”
Language(s) :
English
, Spanish
, French
In partnership with the Prince Claus Foundation, the Alliance commissioned Octavio Kulesz, a digital publisher in Argentina, to carry out a study on digital publishing in developing countries. This first-ever study, the result of 8 months’ research, is now available in French, English and Spanish on the website: http://alliance-lab.org/etude/?lang=en
Who are the new digital players in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world and in Russia, China and India? Can digital publishing develop autonomously in the emerging economies, independently from the rich countries? What support policies are required to stimulate the growth of this new industry and help the traditional publishing sector adapt to the changes? Based on interviews, questionnaires and meetings, Octavio Kulesz provides an overview of digital publishing in these 6 regions and puts forward concrete proposals aimed at independent publishers. Digital publishing experience in the South offers an insight into the major opportunity the new technologies represent for developing countries — especially when it comes to distribution — as long as local entrepreneurs seek innovative models suited to the concrete needs of their communities.
This online study is ongoing and interactive. We invite your contributions and feedback.
In line with decisions taken at the 2007 International Assembly on Independent Publishers in Paris, the language network Coordinators and the Board of the Alliance have been meeting on an annual basis since 2009 (please see our November 2009 Communiqué).
On 11 October 2010, the Coordinators and the Board of the Alliance met in Paris and decided jointly to create “The International Committee of Independent Publishers” (ICIP) [...].
Because the publisher members – Allies – are the primary players in the Alliance, the members of the ICIP and the Board of the Alliance are submitting the creation of the International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP) to your approval.
The creation of “Bibliodiversity – Publishing and Globalisation” rests on three preliminary acknowledgments. The notion of bibliodiversity, despite its rapid spread and significant potential, remains scantly explored, insufficiently discussed, poorly grasped, and even misused – reduced at times to a simple slogan. It was important to save the notion from becoming even more depleted. Furthermore, the two co-publishers – the International Alliance of Independent Publishers along with Double Ponctuation – wish to contribute to original research, the development of intellectual and functional tools, and the collection of testimony that could help us understand the changes occurring in the world of books and publishing. Finally, there is not yet much space available in which to study these changing phenomena with a perspective that is simultaneously international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary.
> See all the additional texts on www.bibliodiversity.org
Nota bene: Bibliodiversity is not an Internet site; it remains first and foremost a linear publication and is organized, dated, and signed. As a service to the journal, the site will maintain its minimalist approach; there are no plans to use the site to replace the journal.
In the last 15 years, the digital revolution has modified the way cultural goods are produced and distributed. Music has probably been the first industry concerned, but the impact has now reached other areas, in particular the book sector. Indeed, ebooks, audiobooks, print on demand, online stores and the expansion of mobile phones have deeply transformed the traditional publishing landscape.
Nevertheless, given the serious infrastructure limitations existing in the developing countries, it becomes crucial to assess the impact that technology is having on the publishing industry in those regions. Which e-publishing companies are flourishing today in the Southern countries? Which policies could be implemented so as to foster this new industry as well as to help the traditional actors to adapt to the changes that are currently taking place?
In order to explore these topics, the International Alliance of independent Publishers in partnership with the Prince Claus Fund, has launched an in-depth study, co-ordinated by Octavio Kulesz, director of Teseo and member of Digital minds Network. The first stage of the research consists of a number of interviews with different actors from the book sector, so as to understand the current situation as well as to propose global initiatives. Every actor from the publishing sector (especially publishers and booksellers) are invited to share their views and experiences through this brief questionnaire - click here!
Contact: ok@editorialteseo.com
Thierry Quinqueton has long experience in the publishing world and of intercultural dialogue. He was Literary Director at the Desclée de Brouwer publishing house (France) from 1991 to 1999, and then Director of the French Cultural Center in Khartoum from 2000 to 2004. After spending four years at the French Department of Foreign Affairs (department of written documents and libraries), he was responsible from May 2009 to July 2013 for the libraries network in the Châtellerault area; from 2013 to 2017, he was in charge of the Book Office at the French Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Thierry Quinqueton also pursues his research on the links between market economies, public policies, and non-monetary aspects within the book economy (Law and Development of Social and Solidarity Economy - University of Poitiers). Author of “Que ferait Saul Alinsky?” (DDB, 2011), he was Chairman of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers from 2006 to 2013.
Mariette Robbes is specialized in network facilitation, public relations and project management in the associative and cultural sectors. She has worked at Katha publishing (India), at the International Association of Francophone Booksellers and the International Youth Library (Germany).
Her growing passion for “third places” and innovative ways of working and creating (fablabs, coworking, shared workshops, etc.) led her to explore new horizons. She is now working as a Network Development & Animation Manager at myCowork, in Paris.
Passionate about publishing for youth in India, she is also an associate member of the academic project DELI (Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Literatures of India). In addition, Mariette works as a freelancer (support for fundraising, graphic design and layout).
Jérôme Chevrier has been working for 20 years in the book and reading sector. As a librarian, he has worked at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Ministry of Culture, the Centre national du livre and the French Institute of South Africa.
He was in charge of cultural mediation at the Centre Pompidou public information library. He is currently cultural attaché in charge of the Book Department at the French Embassy in London.
He joined the Alliance Board in July 2021.
A committed journalist with a special interest in international solidarity, sustainable development and human rights, David Eloy founded Altermondes in 2005, a media focusing on civil society’s actors, where he was editor-in-chief until 2016. He previously held positions in several international NGOs, including the Centre de recherche et d’information pour le développement (CRID), Peuples Solidaires – Action Aid France and the Association internationale de techniciens, experts et chercheurs (Aitec).
As an English professor with a degree in languages and comparative literature, Marielle Morin’s professional career has revolved around books, languages and research.
She has worked in the International Rights Department at the University of Chicago Press, and as a librarian at the Centre for Indian and South Asian Studies (CEIAS-EHESS). She has translated Indian literature from English (Khushwant Singh, Anita Naïr, Amruta Patil) and Bengali (Mahasweta Devi) and then went on to manage the media libraries and the book office of the French Embassy/ Institute in New Delhi first, then in Cairo, for eight years until 2014.
She is now back at the CEIAS, where she is in charge of international research projects within the research focus areas of Asia, Middle East and Muslim Worlds and African Studies.
She continues to be interested in languages, Indian literature, translation, and book history, and is an associate member of the DELI academic project (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Indian Literature).
Georges Lory was cultural advisor in South Africa from 1990 to 1994, and participated to the country’s democratic transition. Between 1998 and 2008, as Director of International Affairs of Radio France Internationale, he increased the number of its FM relays in the world from 76 to 169. From 2009 to 2013, he led the general delegation of the Alliance Française in Southern Africa.
He has written three volumes of poetry (including one in Afrikaans), edited a book published by Autrement on South Africa, translated poets including Breyten Breytenbach, Antjie Krog and Lebo Mashile, novels and short stories by Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Laureate, texts by JM Coetzee, André Brink and Kopano Matlwa, as well as the Dutch writer Adriaan van Dis. He is the author of four books, mainly on South Africa.
Hélène Kloeckner is the founder of Beau travail, which helps organisations improve their working conditions. She is the author of a survey on textbooks in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, published in the Africultures journal in 2003. She has worked for more than twelve years in publishing, and collaborated with Nouvelles éditions africaines in Senegal, Dakar. As a volunteer at the Alliance since 2004, she has been particularly interested in the pan-African collection “Terres Solidaires” . She was the president of the Alliance between 2013 and 2020.
Treasurer of the Alliance, Annie Gogat works for the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation as Accounting Manager. Passionnate about integration issues and involved in her neighborhood’s school life, she finds herself naturally acting as a mediator in many situations. After spending years in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, she now lives in Bouffémont (Paris region). She was the treasurer of the Alliance between 2002 and 2020.
Born in 1946, after obtaining a degree from the Centre de Formation des Journalistes and a postgraduate qualification in political sociology, Gérard Aimé started his career as a journalist and photo-reporter in Canada. The co-founder of Alternatives publishing and co-author of its first publications, he ran the publishing house for 35 years until its takeover by Gallimard. Today he works as a consultant for various publishing houses. Gérard Aimé was a member of the Board of the Alliance between 2011 and 2016.
Marie Hatet has been working in the field of education and culture for the past fifteen years. Currently heading an artistic and cultural education project in Paris’ La Villette Park, she is also a member of the reading committee of the Tatoulu Association (youth literature), and founding member of Les Fondeurs de Roue Association. She joined the Board of the International Alliance of independent publishers in 2014. She served on the Board of the Alliance between 2014 and 2016 and is currently a member of the Alliance’s General Assembly.
1 | ... | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | ... | 37
The label “Fair Trade Book” is attributed by the International Alliance of independent publishers to works published in the context of international publishing agreements that respect each other’s particularities: fair co- publishing. These fair copublishings enable the sharing of costs linked to intellectual and physical production of books and therefore ensure an economy of scale; an exchange of professional know-how and a common experience, while respecting the publishers’ cultural contexts and identities; and a distribution of works on a broader scale by adjusting prices for each geographic zone.
Over the past few years, the predation of large companies from the North on the book trade in Africa has undergone some partnership-related changes. An evolution of practices is observable amongst the large publishing companies from the North, who do not solely rely on local publishing houses’ acquisitions, but also on establishing partnerships with local publishers. How can we guarantee that these partnerships are balanced and fair? How can we ensure that publishers from the South do not “sell their souls” through collaborations with large companies from the North? To accompany these changes, the Alliance has drafted a handbook of practical guidelines for its members, which serves as a reminder on essential checkpoints to look out for.
Should you have comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Alliance thanks Double ponctuation for writing the vademecum.
In partnership with the Prince Claus Foundation, the Alliance commissioned Octavio Kulesz, a digital publisher in Argentina, to carry out a study on digital publishing in developing countries. This first-ever study, the result of eight months of research, is available in French, English and Spanish on the website: http://alliance-lab.org/etude/?lang=en
Who are the new digital players in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world and in Russia, China and India? Can digital publishing develop autonomously in the emerging economies, independently from the rich countries? What support policies are required to stimulate the growth of this new industry and help the traditional publishing sector adapt to the changes? Based on interviews, questionnaires and meetings, Octavio Kulesz provides an overview of digital publishing in these six regions and puts forward concrete proposals aimed at independent publishers. Digital publishing experience in the South offers an insight into the major opportunity that new technologies present for developing countries — especially when it comes to distribution — as long as local entrepreneurs seek innovative models suited to the concrete needs of their communities.
This online study is ongoing and interactive. We invite your contributions and feedback.
The study is also available in PDF, EPUB and MOBI.
Year of publication: 2011; ISBN French version: 978-2-9519747-5-3; ISBN Spanish version: 978-2-9519747-4-6; ISBN English version: 978-2-9519747-6-0
Visit the Alliance Lab to read the update to the study written by Octavio Kulesz in 2016 (available in French and in Spanish).
Language(s) :
italien
““Protect” the Book” by Markus GERLACH, a report from the collection “Reports on the Publishing World”, is now available in Italian from the Italian Federation of Independent Publishers (FIDARE), which translated and published this new edition.
This reference book has been translated into several languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian).
Year of publication: 2010, 68 pages, 15 X 21 cm, 8 euros.
Paris, December 2010
It is with great concern that the International Alliance of Independent Publishers has noted the recent censorship of a book in Spain, and the threats made against the independent publishing house Txalaparta, member of the Alliance’s Spanish-speaking network.
The book in question, “El manual del torturador español” (The Spanish Torturer’s Manual) – by Xabier MAKAZAGA denounces the torture carried out by the Spanish police. The book was withdrawn from a public library (in the Basauri town council), following a request by a political party and certain Madrid newspapers to remove it from all libraries where it was made available to readers. However the practices described in this book support the accusations already made in reports by Amnesy International and by the UN Recorder on Human Rights. The campaign against this book has already been publicly denounced by public librarians. Furthermore the Basque Country Human Rights Observer (Behatokia) sent a letter of protest to Frank de la Rue, Special Recorder on Human Rights and Freedom of Expression with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose headquarters are in Geneva.
The International Alliance of independent publishers, whose objectives include defending freedom of expression and denouncing all forms of censorship, also has a duty to respond publicly when attacks or infringements are directed – for ideological reasons – against independent publishers, whose very job it is to encourage the dissemination of ideas and to contribute to forging the identity of people and their culture.
One has only to examine Txalaparta’s publishing catalogue to appreciate the vast range of literary works and essays which constitute an undeniable contribution to bibliodiversity, while reflecting a clear editorial policy.
This is why we independent publishers are appealing to the Spanish authorities to respect the work of independent publishers and to encourage respect for fundamental rights and democracy.
We also appeal to independent publishers, booksellers, librarians and readers to follow the development of this matter closely and to express their support to Txalaparta Publishing in order to defend and respect the right to information that is true and diverse.
The Spanish-language network of the International Alliance of independent publishers
Massively used by small publishing firms to distribute their products to bookstores, libraries, and readers, the postal service is the most popular means of circulating books throughout the world. However, the absence, suppression or questioning of special postage for books is an impediment to bibliodiversity in many countries.
In Latin America, with a huge territory to cover and limited circulation, a large share of publishers ensures the delivery of their products themselves. For these publishers, preferential postage rates for shipping books are all the more vital.
In this remarkable document, Marion Van Staeyen highlights the persistent imbalance in the book trade between France and francophone Africa, between North and South, specifically concerning children’s books. Some alternatives are appearing, however, to promote access to northern markets for African publishers. Many stakeholders in the sector – among them the International Alliance of independent publishers – are calling for an active and direct redress of the trade imbalance between North and South. A graduate in sociology and editing, Marion Van Staeyen is a second-year master’s student at University of Paris XIII, majoring in the book trade. She is currently attending classes at Sherbrooke University in Quebec, thanks to a partnership between the two universities.
Documents in French.
Publishing countries : Iran
In view of the worrying situation in Iran and the attacks on freedom of expression, the publishers of the Alliance wish to express their solidarity with their Iranian colleagues. They demand the right to publish freely and call for increased cultural and editorial exchanges with Iran.
International Alliance
of Independent Publishers
38 rue Saint-Sabin
75011 Paris - France