The Alliance

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.

The notion of fair speech expands the idea of ‘free speech’ to incorporate the concept of justice. Indeed, in a context of media concentration, dominant powers (whether political, economic, religious, ideological, etc.) are the most represented and heard (because they are powerful or loud). Fair speech fosters speech equity for other voices that are often marginalised and/or censored to be heard. Fair speech therefore promotes an equitable access to expression (for example for women, historically marginalised groups, etc.), enabling an authentic diversity of voices. This concept was created by Betty McLellan in Unspeakable (Spinifex Press, 2010, Australia) and promoted by Susan Hawthorne in Bibliodiversity: A Manifesto for Independent Publishing (Spinifex Press, 2014, Australia).

The Dakar Declaration (December 2003) is the foundational text of the Alliance and birth certificate of the association. The Guadalajara Declaration (October 2005) is the outcome of a meeting held in Mexico between independent publishers from the Latin world.
The International Declaration of independent publishers for the protection and promotion of bibliodiversity (July 2007) was drafted and signed by the 70 publishers participating to the International Assembly of independent publishers held in Paris in 2007.
These three texts, as well as the 2014 International Declaration of independent publishers, are milestones in the history of the Alliance – they are a reminder, and bear witness to the present bearing testimony to the commitment of independent publishers, and serve as their policy guidelines.

The International Alliance of independent publishers is a professional collective that brings together more than 800 independent publishing houses in 60 countries around the world. Created as an association in 2002, it is composed of 6 language networks (English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Persian) and thematic groups. Members of the Alliance are publishing houses and publisher collectives.
The Alliance’s activities promote and strengthen bibliodiversity (cultural diversity applied to the world of the book).

In alignment with its mission, the Alliance created a Bibliodiversity Observatory that gathers studies, analysis and tools produced by the Alliance, aimed at professionals and public authorities. The Observatory’s objectives include assessing and strengthening bibliodiversity in the world.

The Alliance also hosts and facilitates international meetings and thematic workshops (for example on children’s book publishing, digital publishing, etc.), enabling independent publishers from various continents to exchange ideas and initiate collaborations. These meetings support increasing capacity through peer sharing, an aspect developed in particular around the issue of digital publishing in the context of the Digital Lab.
The Alliance supports international publishing projects (co-publishing, translation, copyright transfers, etc.), for greater circulation of texts and fair access to books for readers.

In 2022, the Alliance launched a first-of-its-kind initiative: the first edition of Babelica, an international online Book Fair of Independent Publishing, which takes place once a year, on 21 September (International Bibliodiversity Day).

• Gijón meeting (Spain), 2000 (an initiative led by four Spanish-speaking publishers in reaction to the emergence of Spanish multinationals in Latin America)
• Creation of the Alliance project by a group of publishers and Etienne Galliand – who would become the first director of the association
• Paris meeting (France), 2001 (some few days away from the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity)
• Foundation of the “Alliance of Independent Publishers Association, for Another Globalisation”, as per Law 1901 (head office in Paris) 2002
• Dakar meeting (Senegal), 2003 (Declaration of Solidarity amongst Independent Publishers)
• Guadalajara meeting (Mexico), 2005 (Declaration of independent publishers of the Latin world)
• International Assembly of Independent Publishers in Paris (France), 2007 (International Declaration of Independent Publishers to promote and strenghten bibliodiversity together)
• Name change of the association to International Alliance of independent publishers, 2008
• Creation of the International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP), 2009
• International Assembly of independent publishers – preparatory meetings and closing meeting in Cape Town (South Africa), 2012-2014 (International Declaration of independent publishers, to promote and strengthen bibliodiversity together, and 80 recommendations and tools in support of bibliodiversity)
• Creation of the Bibliodiversity Observatory, 2016
• Mapping public book policies in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, 2020
• International Conference of Independent publishing in Pamplona-Iruñea, 2021 (Declaration ’for independent, decolonial, ecological, feminist, free, social and solidarity-based publishing’)
• Guide to good practice, 2022
• First edition of Babelica, 2022

62 independent publishers from 38 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe are gathering in Cape Town (South Africa) from 18 to 21 September for a unique inter-linguistic and inter-cultural meeting on bibliodiversity! Booksellers, librarians, academics, authors and players in the digital arena are also associated with this event.
Held under the patronage of UNESCO, the Cape Town meeting closes the International Assembly of Independent Publishers, consisting of 7 preparatory workshops between 2012 and 2014.

Alternating between plenary meetings that are open to the public and thematic workshops, the publishers gathered at the Cape Town meeting will propose recommendations and concrete tools for bibliodiversity addressed to public authorities, institutions and professional collectives. To ensure continuity between the preparatory workshops and the Assembly’s closing meeting, thematic working groups have been actively preparing the Cape Town meetings for months.

Round tables and discussions organised in partnership with the Open Book Festival will also be held on 20 and 21 September to celebrate the International Bibliodiversity Day in Cape Town.

Finally, the International Committee of Independent Publishers (ICIP) is meeting on 22 September to take stock of these four days, and to work on implementing the new directions and projects of the Alliance in the years to come.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to Cape Town in a few weeks!
To participate in the Cape Town meeting and/or to receive the recommendations resulting from the International Assembly of Independent Publishers, write to the team of the Alliance: equipe@alliance-editeurs.org

The Cape Town meeting takes place in three languages (English, French and Spanish). The entire programme (presentations in plenary, choice of thematic workshops, round tables with the Open Book Festival) was put together collectively by the participants. Moreover, the publishers also helped raise the funds necessary to hold this meeting, which could not have been achieved without the cooperation of our local partners (Jacana Media, French Institute of South Africa, Alliance française, Open Book Festival, Modjaji Books, National Library of South Africa and Goethe Institut).

At the 80^th IFLA Congress (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), from 16 to 22 August 2014 in Lyon (France), the International Alliance of independent publishers will present a paper on “What new book donation practices can meet the needs of young African readers in libraries?”
This analysis on book donation practices and their impact both on the readers and book industry in French-speaking Africa, is written by Marie Michèle RAZAFINTSALAMA (éditions Jeunes malgaches, Madagascar) and the Alliance team. She is continuing the research and advocacy work begun a number of years ago by a group of publisher-members of the Alliance on book donation challenges for bibliodiversity. This paper is an extension to the workshop on book donations held in March 2013 in Paris (International Assembly of independent publishers).

To read the paper “What new book donation practices can meet the needs of young African readers in libraries?” (IFLA 2014), see here.

As every year on 21 September, exciting activities (book crossing, readings, meetings, etc.) will be held on the occasion of International Bibliodiversity Day (B Day).
This year, we plan to make a lot of noise –rallying new individuals, groups and organisations from all over the world.

Working together in a network, going in the same direction, and with more determination than ever before.

This year, let’s go further!
Are you coming along?

The 7^th workshop of the International Assembly of independent publishers will be held from 30 April to 2 May 2014 in Abu Dhabi, through a partnership with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, and the support of the International Organisation of the Francophonie and the Prince Claus Fund. It will convene 15 publishers and digital publishing experts from the Arab world and Argentina, with the common objective of:
• Helping publishers to overcome technical challenges encountered during the creation of ePub files in Arabic;
• Discussing digital distribution platforms used in the Arab world;
• Sharing experiences on online promotion and e-marketing;
• Drafting recommendations to facilitate traditional publishers’ transition towards digital publishing and secure a better diffusion for digital publications in the Arab world.

All proposals and recommendations from this workshop will be communicated to public and standardisation authorities, and will be available on the Alliance’s Digital Lab.

Following the workshop, 3 May, from 11:00 to 12:00, do not miss the public speech on “Words and money”, a book by André Schiffrin translated and co-published by the Arabic-language network of the Alliance. More information here!

For more information on this workshop and on the International Assembly of independent publishers: assises@alliance-editeurs.org
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Twelve publishers based in Africa, Haiti and Madagascar are collectively publishing Lilian THURAM’s “Mes étoiles noires”, initially published by Philippe Rey (2010). As from April 2014, you will find this publication in Algeria (Barzakh), Benin (Ruisseaux d’Afrique), Burkina Faso (Sankofa & Gurli), Cameroun (Presses universitaires d’Afrique), Côte d’Ivoire (EDILIS), Guiney Conakry (Ganndal), Haiti (Mémoire d’encrier), Madagascar (Jeunes malgaches), Morocco (Tarik), Mali (Jamana), Senegal (Éditions Papyrus Afrique), and in Togo (Graines de Pensées).

Lilian THURAM will visit Africa and Haiti to promote “Mes étoiles noires”:
• From 21 to 25 April 2014 in Guiney Conakry, during the event 72 heures du livre (through the support of the French Institute of Conakry)
• From 25 to 27 April 2014 in Benin (through the support of the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation)
• From 5 to 9 May 2014 in Haiti (details to be confirmed)
• On 19 July 2014 in Senegal (details to be confirmed)

This solidarity co-publishing “Fair Trade book” project is coordinated and supported by the Alliance, and benefited from the support of the Lilian Thuram Foundation – Education against racism and its partners, CASDEN and MGEN.

For more information on this co-publishing project, click here.

This co-publication is supported by the Fondation Lilian Thuram - Éducation contre le racisme and its partners: CASDEN and MGEN; this co-publishing bears the label “Fair Trade Book”.

Publication: April 2014 - 404 pages - 14,5 X 22 cm - printed on recycled paper -
First publication: éditions Philippe Rey, Paris, 2010.
ISBN Algeria: 978-9931-325-67-3
ISBN Benin: 978-99919-1-707-8
ISBN Burkina Faso: 978-2-913991-65-1
ISBN Cameroon: 978-9956-444-77-4
ISBN Côte d’Ivoire: 978-2-8091-0062-4
ISBN Guinea Conakry: 978-2-35045-046-9
ISBN Haïti: 978-2-89712-232-4
ISBN Madagascar: 978-2-916362-39-7
ISBN Mali: 978-99952-1-063-2
ISBN Marocco: 978-9954-419-76-2
ISBN Senegal: 978-2-914135-20-7
ISBN Togo: 978-2-916101-58-3

In “The Early Islam, from Ugarit to Samarra”, the history of a religious movement later to be known as Islam will be retold –not as it can be found in all encyclopedias, history books and TV documentaries– but as it can be inferred from the material evidence if investigated in an unbiased fashion. “Unbiased” here means that all we know –or rather only seemingly know– from the Islamic historiographic literature (the “Traditional Account/ Report”) will be ignored: first as it stems from an era several centuries after the alleged events it describes; secondly as it is mostly legendary and follows a “theological program” and thirdly as in many cases it flatly contradicts the material evidence we have on coins, inscriptions etc. The re-interpreted history will be presented in the form of the account of a journey. In some cases, words everyone would expect in a history of “early Islam” will not appear and for good reason. The term “muslim”, for example, appears only very late on in non-Islamic sources, in fact only several generations after the alleged founding of the new religion. Other words appear with different meanings, e.g. “Islām” originally does not designate a new religion, “Arabī” does not designate an ethnic group and other examples.

Publication: 2014 - 304 pages - 22 x 15 cm - ISBN: 978-3-943147-99-5
First publication: Schiler Verlag (Germany), 2006
This translation has received the support of the Prince Claus Fund.

Publication: 2014, 496 pages, 15 X 22 cm
ISBN France: 978-2-3641-303-95
ISBN Switzerland: 978-2-8290-470-4

After the first six preparatory and thematic workshops that were held from November 2012 to December 2013, the seventh and last workshop of the Assembly will take place from 30^th April to 2^nd May in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. This workshop will gather 15 publishers and digital experts around the topic: “Digital publishing: What issues for bibliodiversity in the Arab-speaking world?”. More information to come soon!

From 17^th to 22^nd September, the Cape Town meeting (South Africa) will conclude the International Assembly of independent publishers. More than 50 independent publishers from 40 countries will meet in Cape Town for an intercultural and interlinguistic event in favor of bibliodiversity.
The Assembly is organized in partnership with the Open Book festival.

For more information, get in touch with the Alliance team and download the document below.

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.

From 2002 to 2009, Étienne GALLIAND (founder of the Alliance) managed the association. He then created Double Ponctuation, with which the Alliance regularly collaborates. Double Ponctuation is, among other things, copublisher of the Bibliodiversity journal.

Alexandre TIPHAGNE joined the Alliance from 2002 to 2007, as manager of co-editions and the Portuguese and Spanish languages networks. From December 2012 to April 2014, Alexandre was vice-chair of Cabinet in the Ministry of Culture and Communication and technical councillor responsible of the book, and later chair of Cabinet. Formerly a parliamentary collaborator of Aurélie Filippetti at the National Assembly, he is currently in charge of Culture at Paris City Council.

Thomas WEISS worked for the Alliance between 2003 and 2006 as a logistician, administrator and Webmaster. He also coordinated co-publishing projects of the English and Arabic languages networks. In 2007, he became an independent consultant and web developer, and worked principally for the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation, Exemole Sarl, and the Research Institute, and contributed to discussions on governance. In 2013, he joined the French IT group, Netapsys Conseil, as central director. He is currently a consultant at OCTO Technology.

Between 2008 and 2010, Nathalie CARRÉ contributed her expertise to “Terres solidaires” and “Terres d’écritures”, both solidary copublishings collections. Nathalie continued facilitating the reading committee of the “Terres solidaires” collection. She is currently a Swahili teacher at Inalco.

Sonbol REGNAULT-BAHMANYAR contributed to the Alliance between 2010 to 2012, by developing the Persian language publishers group. Sonbol is currently in Iran, where she runs a French pastry shop.

Matthieu JOULIN joined the Alliance’s team in 2011, after a master’s degree in Hispano-American Language, Literature and Civilisation at Bordeaux University and a master’s degree in Book Commercialisation at University of Paris 13-Villetaneuse. Between 2011 and 2019, Matthieu was especially in charge of the Digital Lab of the Alliance; and maintaining and supporting the Spanish and Portuguese language networks.

Clémence HEDDE worked for 10 years at the Alliance, between 2010 and 2020. After a double degree in Geography/ Book Trade in France and the United Kingdom, and experiences in different publishing houses (Autrement, La Découverte, Phaidon), Clémence Hedde was Programme Manager at the International Alliance of independent publishers, more specifically responsible for overseeing the Alliance’s French-language network and the children’s books/youth literature thematic group, coordinating international co-publishings, organisation of meetings and workshops, as well as monitoring the research initiatives of the Bibliodiversity Observatory. She is now Literary Coordinator at Ciclic, the regional Agency of the Center Val de Loire for books, images and digital culture.

Mariam PELLICER is a graduate from Sciences Politiques in Toulouse (specialising on the fight against discrimination and the struggle for equality), after an academic exchange at the University in Chile, stuying among other things, sociology of gender. Mariam’s early professional experiences were with the International Alliance of Women in Athens and then with the Fondation des Femmes in Paris.
Between 2020 and 2024, Mariam coordinated the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking networks, the Bibliodiversity Observatory and the Alliance’s advocacy unit.

Nathalie COOREN (French-Spanish)

Nathalie Cooren has a background in law (Master of Laws with a specialisation in European and international law) and in social sciences (Master in sociology of conflicts). After working several years in the field of international relations, where translation was an integral part of her daily life, she decided to make it her full-time job.
Several years spent abroad, particularly in Latin America, also made her aware of the importance of languages and the diversity of cultures. She translates from Spanish and English into French, for documents in the legal, institutional, political, environmental, tourism, marketing, and publishing fields, as well as books (see in particular "Guide du municipalisme : pour une ville citoyenne apaisée, ouverte”).

Danielle CHARONNET (French-Spanish)

Rachel MATTEAU MATSHA (French-English)

Rachel Matteau Matsha is senior lecturer at the Durban University of Technology (South Africa). Her research interests include book history, sociology of literature, Indian Ocean studies, and postcolonial studies. Born in Québec (Canada), she holds a BA in Literary Studies from the Université du Québec à Montréal, and a MA and PhD in African Literature from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (South Africa). She is the author of Real and Imagined Readers. Reading, publishing and censorship under apartheid (UKZN Press, forthcoming 2018). She is collaborating with the International Alliance of independent publishers since 2013.

Volunteers come from time to time to support the permanent team of the Alliance for the implementation of the action plan of the association: we thank them very much for their involvement and their commitment!

Céline ANFOSSI
Céline Anfossi is specialised in project management and consultancy. She has worked in the book sector, mainly in coaching professionals (International Alliance of independent publishers, Fill-Interregional Federation of Books and Reading). She explores these issues through different projects and audiences (women seeking employment, students) and is particularly interested in the topic of professional integration.

Djamilatou DIALLO

Born in Tahiti, of Franco-Guinean parents, Djamilatou continued her studies in Paris in Lettres et Histoire (MA dissertation on Ancient History: “Patrons of cities in Roman Africa from the third to the fifth century: an epigraphic study”).
In the long term, Jamilatou would like to specialise in the protection and enhancement of heritage by working with different cultural organisations here or elsewhere.
Following a five-month internship at the Alliance (development of the 2018 WomenList and the HotList presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and the study on the textbook market in French-speaking Africa), Djamilatou is now a volunteer of the Association.

The ICIP includes the coordinators and vice-coordinators of the Alliance’s language networks; the coordinators and vice-coordinators are nominated by the members of the networks. Since 2011, the ICIP has been an essential part of governing the Alliance, representing the voice of the publishers. The ICIP meets once a year in the presence of the Board and the team of the Alliance. The agenda is based on the aspirations and objectives of the Alliance, considering above all the needs and expectations of the members.

Composition of the ICIP:

• Coordinator of the Arabic-speaking network: Samar Haddad, Syria (Atlas Publishing)

• Coordinator of the English-speaking network: Colleen Higgs, South Africa (Modjaji Books)
• Vice-coordinator of the English-speaking network : Ronny Agustinus, Indonesia (Marjin Kiri)

• Coordinator of the French-speaking network: Élisabeth Daldoul, Tunisia (elyzad)
• Vice-coordinators of the French-speaking network: Paulin Assem, Togo (AGO Média) and Jean-Claude Naba, Burkina Faso (Sankofa & Gurli)

• Coordinators of the Persian-speaking network: Azadeh Parsapour, UK/Iran (Nogaam) and Anahita Mehdipour, Germany/Iran (Forough Verlag)

• Coordinators of the Portuguese-speaking network: Mariana Warth, Brazil (Pallas Editora) and Carla Oliveira, Portugal (Orfeu Negro)

• Coordinators of the Spanish-speaking network : Germán Gacio Baquiola, Ecuador (Editores independientes de Ecuador) and Francisca Muñoz Méndez, Chile (Editoriales de Chile)

Click here to see the list of Alliance member publishers.