“It's nice, because with age it became impossible to decipher the words. I got back to reading."
Huguette, octogenarian, with only 4/10 in one eye and 0 in the other, could no longer read works printed in large standard format.
She is now delighted to be able to devour novels again thanks to large characters.
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Seniors, visually impaired, dyslexic, readers looking for more comfort, people in literacy training... More and more of them are able to discover or rediscover the pleasure of reading thanks to specialized editions "in large print" .
But you don't need to be visually impaired to appreciate this large format, the whole family can enjoy it, like Huguette's husband who reads his wife's books:
"The story is the same so the format doesn't doesn't bother me, on the contrary,"
he explains.
Children, themselves accustomed to reading large-print books and albums, can thus enjoy moments of reading shared with their elders.
The font size, almost twice as big as that of the standard editions, makes reading more comfortable.
After having tasted these books, it is difficult to go back to a smaller one, as Stéphanie, who works in a retirement home, explains
: “A resident, a very big reader, reads up to six books a week.
Since she discovered large print, she only wants to read that.”
The provision in the Ehpad de Retiers in Brittany of 200 works in large print has made it possible to double the number of readers, they are happy to be able to "escape", "dream" and "remember memories" again. autonomy.
Specialized editions work on many elements in addition to increasing the font.
Indeed, the paper is thicker than in the standard editions, so that the words on the next page do not show through, and in a matt white color to eliminate shine and provide better contrast.
The length of the lines is reduced to a maximum of 11 centimeters so that the eye tires much less.
The margins are therefore larger and the line spacing is increased for a more airy presentation.
On the left a large format in size 19, on the right a large format with a standard font.
Lena Saint-Jalmes
However, the book must always be easy to handle and pleasant to read.
“It has to be light.
So we work a lot on the paper, it is very opaque since our pages are very inked but very light.
When we released
“Lespossibles”
by Virginie Grimaldi, we realized that it weighed 100 grams less than the original edition.
This is perhaps what sets us apart the most from other publishers, handiness is our priority,”
explains Cécile and Anne Saporta, managers of Éditions Feryane, which specialize in large-print publishing.
But there is no question of exploding prices.
With microprints and thicker works, the price is often three or four euros higher than for large “classic” formats, i.e. a price of around 22 euros.
At Éditions de la Loupe, each title is printed only between 500 and 1000 copies.
“It's a niche market, but we're getting by.
We manage to obtain these prices because we work with high-end digital presses and sophisticated digital systems,”
explains the founder of Éditions de La Loupe, Alban du Cosquer.
However, for a voluminous work that comes in several volumes, prices can rise to around forty euros.
Too little democratized
In 30 years, the large print departments of libraries, the main purchasers of these works, have grown considerably.
But many are not aware of the existence of these books.
According to Alban du Cosquer
"more than nine people out of ten do not know books in large print"
.
No more having only romances or local works.
Publishing houses now offer a wide range: police, feel good, biography, historical novel or even cookbook with, among others, the book
Homemade by Cyril Lignac
(Editions de la Loupe).
The objective of Éditions Feryane is to be in the literary news.
"A person who suffers from visual impairment must be able to read the same thing as their loved ones and at the same time."
This is why, in September, the house publishes two or three books at the same time as the literary season: a work which comes out on September 1 in large format will be printed on September 15 in large print.
For the start of the 2021 school year, the simultaneous releases were
Premier Sang
by Amélie Nothomb and
Adapt
by Clara Dupont-Monod.
Several dozen novelties are released each year, whether bestsellers by Sylvain Tesson or Lætitia Collombani for Éditions de la Loupe or Virginie Grimaldi or Harlan Coben for Éditions Feryane.
Editions de La Loupe
:
wide range of books.
[Free shipping and book (from a selection) from the second book purchased.
Reading comfort test
to be printed on A4 sheet].
Les
Éditions Feryane
: closer to literary news with simultaneous book releases.
The manageability of the book is their priority.