So Press, the group that shakes up journalism

How many times has Franck Annese strangled himself when he heard that the written press no longer had any future, because young people were only interested in TV series? Soon 20 years since this journalist persists in burying this received idea. And he has developed a recipe that he believes is magical: to make magazines with a single instruction, to offer serious surveys or reports, read nowhere else, and above all, “cool”.

With his cap screwed to his head, the 40-year-old bears no resemblance to the cliché of the paunchy press boss with a cigar in his mouth. But since the creation of the friendly So Foot in 2003, his company, So Press, has never ceased to agitate the sector. She's the one behind Pédale !, Tampon !, The Running Heroes Society, magazines on cycling, rugby and running, Doolittle for children, the cinephile So Film, the elegant L'Etiquette and So Good, the last born.

200 sms per day to replenish the kiosks

In this deconfined summer, Society, another of its titles, is making the event. The astonishing investigation into the mystery of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, suspected of having killed his entire family before disappearing in 2011, is everywhere out of stock.

A real treasure hunt is necessary to succeed in buying the two issues of the fortnightly where the 77-page survey is spread. The managers of the press houses call Franck Annese directly for priority delivery. “I'm used to being called upon when there are supply problems. But there, I receive 200 SMS per day. This is madness ! We delivered 300 copies to Montparnasse station one morning. That same evening, there was no longer a single one, ”smiles the journalist, proud of his blow. “It had been a decade since there had been such a boom around a print media title. It's good that the hit of the summer is neither a Netflix series, nor a hit, but a paper magazine! »Rejoices the one who multiplies the reprints since the release of the first part on July 23.

What investigation my ancestors what investigation. Bravo @SocietyOfficiel! Striking! 😯 #XDDL #society pic.twitter.com/CKkihs3gKV

And it's not over. “We still have 60 tonnes of paper aside to relaunch a possible last impression. We would like to be on newsstands until October, to sell 300,000 copies in total if we add the two numbers ”, jubilant Franck Annese. He can afford it. Usually, Society sells 47,000 copies, like So Foot, the other bestseller of its group.

"All this frenzy is fun, obviously, but it is not excessive", admits, a little hallucinated, one of the four signatories of this survey, the result of four years of work. “We regularly publish 10-page articles, but we had never offered such a long story. We had so many fascinating things to tell, that we quickly felt that we needed as much space as possible. In particular to take care of the construction, make cliffhangers (Editor's note: suspenseful ends) , etc. », Remembers Pierre Boisson, co-editor of the magazine and co-author of the article.

We have updated this link which explains how to find our last two issues: https://t.co/gSHKbxcIK8 New copies of 137 arrived this week, new copies of 136 arriving from Monday!

And as with every good move, there is an element of chance. “We started actively this fall, for publication in April, around the anniversary of the affair. Containment has delayed our plans. We had to postpone in the summer, but that's where the French really have time to read, ”says Pierre Boisson. Social networks did the rest. Readers photograph their copy on Instagram, while the unlucky on Twitter ask for a list of outlets, and resales are in full swing on Leboncoin.

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Out-of-stock kiosks are not the only ones flooding SMS writing. "We have received many requests to buy the rights to our survey for an adaptation in series, in film for the cinema, in book, and even in comic strip", says Franck Annese, who is preparing to decline several of the proposals. But not all of them. Because these projects could fill the coffers, dried up by confinement.

Tariffs criticized by the competition

“During the Covid-19, we did some great numbers that were well bought. But with the crisis of the distributor Presstalis, we sold these magazines for nothing. There is a shortfall of 5 million euros in turnover. Ligonnès will not be enough to go up the whole slope. "

With 120 full-time employees, So Press has never been the business of the century, but it has been profitable for years. “We never made any money for our shareholders. Every time we end the surplus year, we reinvest everything to launch new titles or do new projects, ”says the man who also has a production company for commercials and a music label.

For the press, Society's summer success raises a wave of hope. What if long-term surveys finally reversed the inexorable drop in sales? But the competition often looks askance at So Press. The low price journalists are paid is singled out. 27 euros for a brief of 1,500 characters and 130 euros gross per page, according to the Paye ta freelance collective. One of the lowest prices on the market. Franck Annese defends himself against any social damage and repeats that the articles are several pages long, the quoted prices mean nothing. And he is pleased to have kept his 120 employees throughout the confinement.