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The Alliance

Night

Author(s) : TANG Ke Yang - Martine LAFFON
Publishing countries : China, France
Language(s) : Chinese , French
Price : 9,45 €

The geography of time zones instructs us that when Paris goes to sleep, Shanghai wakes up. But if you ask a Chinese writer and a French writer to tell you what night is, they won’t talk (much) about sleep. Tang Ke Yang, a young specialist in comparative literature, and Martine Laffon, a philosopher, are too fascinated with the many facets of night to leave its riches to slumberers. The journey that they each propose to us, to the end of the night of their souls – and of their civilizations – is an invitation to see in the dark what we don’t see, to look into the night of the other to better understand him and to better understand ourselves.
They say that night illuminates. Gone is the fear of the child lost in the darkness; a mysterious alchemy emerges by which the night, as if by surprise, reveals something to us about the infinite. Tang Ke Yang and Martine Laffon have each had personal experience with it. One of them discovered in the night a “space of nonchalance in our life horsewhipped by reason”; for the other, nocturnal time reveals “what the eye and the other senses can no longer distinguish, for they have forgotten what they knew so well in the light of day.” Sleepless nights, those (so French) nights of mischief, once-forbidden nights in China when no one could stroll without special permission, nights of intoxication and nights of lucidity, nights of Pascal and Descartes when they did their best thinking, inner nights and trap-nights, nights of lamps, red lanterns and Chinese candles, nights celebrated according to Christian tradition, night of writers and poets. Based on this litany of evocations set forth by the two writers, we can categorically deny the doubt expressed in passing by Martine Laffon: “And what if night were only night?”

Year of publication: 1999

Collection Near and far

In this collection “Near and Far”, two authors, one Chinese, the other French, meet and exchange on topics chosen for their relevance in our daily life and in human relations. They tell us about their own experience and explore the roots of their respective civilizations to discuss how philosophers, writers and poets spoke of these topics.

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Call to French-language authors, publishers and institutions, March 2007

Publishing countries : Ivory Coast

African literature in French is today better represented and better known in Europe than in Africa, where its distribution remains hampered by many obstacles. However, there are solutions, which require the mobilisation of various stakeholders in the book industry. One solution is co-publishing, based on a joint trade agreement. The publication of “L’Ombre d’Imana” by Véronique TADJO, a groundbreaking example of pan-African co-publishing, proves that it is possible, through joint action, to create the conditions necessary for a (re)appropriation by Africa of its literature. To make this possible, the Alliance is appealing to everyone, authors, publishers and institutions alike, to join forces and promote the bibliodiversity at the heart of the francophone spirit. This appeal is endorsed by many authors and book industry professionals.

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International Publishers’ Meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, April 25 - 27, 2008

Publishing countries : Colombia

This meeting, organized by Cerlalc, the Colombian Department of Education, the Book Chamber of Colombia and the Cultural affairs of the city of Bogotá, was special in that it enabled the exchange of experiences between independent publishers from Colombia, from the Alliance (Germán Coronado (Ediciones Peisa, Peru), Pablo Harari (Trilce, Uruguay), Ivana Jinkings (Boitempo, Brazil), Anne Marie Métailié (Editions Métailié, France), Paulo Slachevsky (Lom Ediciones, Chile), Marcelo Uribe (Ediciones Era, Mexico), Thierry Quinqueton, Chairman of the Alliance, and other professionals of the book sector.

An emphasis was put on the theme of new technologies (on-demand printing, Google books search, ebooks) and on their impact on the very know-how of publishers.

Two major aspects of this meeting were the formal creation of REIC (Red de Editoriales Independientes de Colombia) through the signature of its by-laws and the drafting of the Bogota Declaration (see below).

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Bibliodiversity 9, February, 2008

Read: The ninth issue of Bibliodiversity, the newsletter of the Alliance of independent publishers, has just come out!

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Publishers of the Alliance present at the “Plural Africa” stand at the Youth Book and Press Fair in Montreuil (France), November 28 - December 3, 2007

Publishing countries : France

10 publishing houses from 10 different countries were indeed represented in an especially fit out 60 m² space. Five publishers were present and stayed for 6 days in tune with the fair: Russel Clarke (Jacana Media, South Africa), Béatrice Lalinon Gbado (éditions Ruisseaux d’Afrique, Benin), Marianna Warth (Pallas Editora, Brazil), Marie-Michèle Razafinstalama (éditions Prediff, Madagascar) and Paulin Assem (éditions Graines de pensées, Togo) thus participated both in setting up the stand as well as in managing it.

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Bibliodiversity 8, November, 2007

Read: The eighth issue of Bibliodiversity, the newsletter of the Alliance of independent publishers, has just come out!

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Foundation of the Alianza Peruana de Editores

Publishing countries : Peru

The Peruvian publishers that were present at the International Assembly in Paris last July (Germán Coronado, Ediciones PEISA and Álvaro Lasso, Estruendomudo), have participated in founding the Alianza Peruana de Editores in Lima in September. The creation of this Alliance, which gathers about twenty independent, academic and autonomous publishers, is perfectly in line with the appeal launched by signatory publishers in International Declaration of Independent Publishers for the protection and promotion of bibliodiversity (Paris, July 2007): “we call upon independent publishers everywhere in the world to join forces –whether at the national, regional, or international level– creating associations and other collective bodies which will permit us to better defend our rights, and to make our voices heard.”
According to Germán Coronado : “Esta nueva entidad gremial nace como un reflejo de lo que aconteció en París en julio pasado.” (“This new collective entity is born as a reflection of what happened in Paris last July").
The statutes of this Peruvian Alliance are available on the following link: http://alpe.wordpress.com

We wish this national association of independent publishers success in protecting and fostering bibliodiversity as well as its Latin American counterparts (AEMI in Mexico, EDINAR in Argentina, LIBRE in Brazil).

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International Declaration of Independent Publishers, 2007

75 independent publishers from more than 45 countries – including members of associations representing over 380 publishing houses – gathered in Paris in the French National Library from July 1-4, 2007 for an International Assembly on Independent Publishing. In the International Declaration of Independent Publishers, they reaffirm their intention to resist and to act with a common purpose.

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A unique meeting in favor of bibliodiversity

Publishing countries : France

International Assembly on Independent Publishing -
Paris, 1-4 July, 2007

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Bibliodiversity Observatory

Children’s book trade between France and francophone Africa

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.

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Solidarity with Iranian publishers, August 2009

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.

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Publishing in Ivory Coast: a study of the educational sector subjected to offers to tender

Throughout 46 well-documented pages and based on an extensive in-the-field investigation, Stéphane Marill has produced this remarkable analysis of “Publishing in Côte d’Ivoire: a study of the educational sector subjected to offers to tender”. This comprehensive overview comprises an all-new step-by-step guide for publishers wishing to apply for school publishing tenders (read also this article).

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Book trade between Spain and Latin America

This study, available in Spanish, was carried out as an International Alliance of independent publishers exclusive by Elena Enríquez Fuentes (Mexico) in 2008.

Her work demonstrates that there is a considerable bias in the trading of books between Spain and Latin America. This assertion is based on the analysis of exports and imports between Spain and Latin America in 2006 and 2007.

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Towards a Europe protecting bibliodiversity?, April 2009

As the official campaign for the next European elections is being launched, the Alliance has decided to get involved in a positive fashion by formulating three proposals that would be very simple to implement.

These proposals have furthermore been published on the website http://challengeforeurope.blogactiv.eu, with dozens of others, on the initiative of the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation in the framework of its “What kind of Europe do we want?” program. Let us hope this impressive corpus of proposals will be a profitable inspiration to the EU’s future elected representatives!

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Freedom of publishing under threat in Canada?, April 2008

An incredible censorship attempt is endangering the very existence of the publisher Écosociété (Quebec – Canada); more than 60 publishers from 30 countries have declared their undivided support for the Quebec publisher and are calling on the pinstigators of the “Noir Canada” affair to respect the rights of freedom of expression and publication.

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How to respond to a call for tenders in the textbook industry?

Through a step-by-step approach, with examples and a pedagogical method, Stéphane Marill gives a precious “vade mecum” for any publisher wishing to respond to a call for tenders in the school textbook industry.

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Protecting the book

Why did the large majority of European countries choose to protect the book, setting its price through trade agreements or legal measures? How were these protection mechanisms, which make the book into a cultural exception permitted by the European Commission, gradually implemented? Markus Gerlach offers a broad analysis the price-fixing of books in Europe: he begins by relating the background of this measure and then analyzes the economic effects. In the end he shows the extent to which the price-fixing of books, apart from its cultural and economic importance, also assumes an eminently political dimension.

“Protéger le livre” by Markus Gerlach (in French) - available in Spanish (“Cómo proteger el libro”), in Portuguese (“Proteger o livro”) and in Italian (“Proteggere il libro”).

Year of publication: 2006, 160 pages, 15 x 21 cm, ISBN 10: 2-9519747-2-8; ISBN 13: 978-2-9519747-2-2

Collection État des lieux de l’édition

Proteggere il libro_in Italian

Cómo proteger el libro_in Spanish

Proteger o livro_in Portuguese

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Des paroles et des actes pour la bibliodiversité

Year of publication: 2006, 288 pages, 15 x 21 cm, ISBN 978-2-9519747-3-9

Collection État des lieux de l’édition

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Éditeurs indépendants : de l’âge de raison vers l’offensive ? (Independent Publishers: moving from the age of reason on to the attack?)

Far from being a caricature, developing a reasoning based on his personal conception of publishing, Gilles Colleu explores some of the characteristics of a typical independent publisher.
What do we mean by independent publisher? Are they necessarily small concerns? Can a major group be independent? In a context of concentration and increasing dominance of financial considerations, how can publishers remain independent while playing their crucial role of putting fresh ideas forward?

Gilles Colleu is a former student of Jean-Marie Bouvaist and has taught alongside him on the Master course at Villetaneuse University. He is now an associate professor in the publishing professions department of the IUT in Aix-en-Provence. He founded the Vents d’ailleurs publishing house and manages it with Jutta Hepke, and for the past 20 years has acted as a consultant to publishers.

In this work, he stresses his conviction that publishing needs to be rooted in a long cycle of cultivation, to build a coherent catalogue and long-lasting business.

NB: pages 94 to 97 of this work feature a full, fresh definition of independent publishing, suggested by the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

Year of publication: 2006, 160 pages, 15 x 21 cm, ISBN 10: 2-9519747-2-8; ISBN 13: 978-2-9519747-2-2

Collection État des lieux de l’édition

La edición independiente_in Spanish

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