The Bookseller – News – Inflation of book prices allows publishers in France to increase their sales

According to the French Publishers’ Association (Syndicat National de l’édition, SNE), French book publishers recorded a modest increase in nominal sales last year, due to a 2.6 percent increase in book prices as a result of ongoing inflation.

Sales increased by 1.16% to 2,944.7 million euros from 2,911 euros in 2022, while the number of copies sold decreased by 1.96% to 439.7 million from 448.5 million in 2022. Nevertheless, sales in 2023 increased by 1.1%, or 4.9% adjusted for inflation, compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, said SNE President Vincent Montagne in his editorial in the SNE annual report.

Publishers continued to reduce production last year, as booksellers have been demanding for years. The number of new titles fell by 5% to 36,819, compared to 38,743 the previous year and 37,864 in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak. This brings the overall decline in new titles since 2018 to 18%, the figures show. The number of copies printed also shrank by 7.5% to 259 million in 2023, compared to 280 million in 2022.

Last year, general literature remained the market leader with sales of 627.8 million euros. Despite a nominal decline in manga sales of 4.3 percent, graphic novels followed with total sales of 466.8 million euros. Children’s books came in third place with sales increasing by 1.9 percent to 385.4 million euros.

At the international level, French publishers increased the number of translation rights and co-editions sold by 3.4 percent. However, the number of contracts with China, France’s long-standing most important partner, continued to decline.

E-book sales, valued at €283 million, accounted for 10.1 percent of publishers’ total sales, while paperbacks (excluding manga) rose 0.7 percent year-on-year in real terms due to inflation and lower purchasing power, the report said.

Montagne, who was elected for his seventh two-year term at the SNE’s annual general meeting yesterday (Thursday, June 27), told members he had three priorities. One of these was to finalise a guide to best practices on contracts between publishers and authors and to introduce a mechanism to resolve author disputes. “In time, a law will be needed to implement certain terms of our agreements,” he added.

The second priority concerns generative artificial intelligence and the need to “ensure that authors’ rights are not sacrificed on the altar of technological innovation, which some see as an exclusive strategic priority.” The third priority is to ensure that all actors involved are rewarded in the sale of used books, a market that is growing “exponentially,” he added.

Montagne reiterated his opposition to the creation of a quasi-paid status for authors and warned against reducing the reach of the cultural pass for young people, doubling VAT on books, rewriting history and restricting freedom of publication. Referring to the French parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, in which the far-right Rassemblement National is considered victorious, he said: “It is our responsibility to confront (extremism) with the utmost determination.”