A collective of 625 publishers, authors and booksellers published this Saturday a forum addressed to the Head of State so that he acts to "save" the book industry, endangered by the epidemic of Covid-19.
“The State must prevent the collapse of this vital sector for our whole society […] Many bookstores and publishing houses, known and recognized, and the authors, illustrators, translators, like all the creators of the book , will not recover if the entire industry does not benefit from a rapid and ambitious recovery plan, "plead the signatories, including the Nobel Prize winner Patrick Modiano, the editor Antoine Gallimard and the novelist Guillaume Musso. Isn't the President of the Republic an ardent lover of literature and words?
"The authors, deprived of book sales and paid meetings, are experiencing an unprecedented loss of income," they emphasize in this text, published by Le Monde. "There is now an absolute urgency to intervene before the summer," insist the signatories who want "aid of several hundred million euros" for the sector. Which represents economically, according to the Ministry of Culture, "the first of the cultural industries".
Of the 23.5 million euros of the emergency support fund for culture which has been released, 5 million were to be devoted to books. According to the signatories of the forum, it takes "several hundred million euros" for the sector.
Measures "at the end of next week"
And, so far, government announcements for culture have mainly concerned the maintenance of rights of intermittent workers, laid off by the cessation of filming, theatrical performances, postproductions and the cancellation of chain festivals. They followed worried but proactive speeches. For the book, nothing but a "support plan" that is slow to come.
The industry, which mixes small writers - paid once a year in copyright - and pens to a million readers, independent proofreaders or translators, publishing houses and large centenary groups, network of department stores and passionate small shops, suffered: the releases of big bestsellers of spring were postponed, literary fairs canceled. Bookstores, which failed to register among the essential shops allowed to work during confinement, lost all of their turnover. They could not reopen until May 11, with drastic reception conditions, which these small traders are struggling to keep, in addition to the rest. Admittedly, sales jumped 233% in value and 178% in volume during the week of May 11 to 17, according to Livres Hebdo, but they will not compensate for eight weeks of shortfall.
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Friday, no doubt informed of the imminent publication of this text, the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester announced on his Twitter account that he was working with the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire "on a plan to support the chain of the book in consultation with all professionals in the sector ”. And he promised action "by the end of next week". They are eagerly awaited.
📚 With @BrunoLeMaire, we are working on a support plan for the #livre chain in consultation with all professionals in the sector. We will present our measures at the end of next week.
- Franck Riester (@franckriester) May 22, 2020