The number of new titles has fallen by 18 percent in five years

The statistical report of SNE, the French publishers’ association, shows a decline in copy sales, although the value remains stable.

Author: Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

A five-year trend towards fewer new releases

ANDat today’s (June 27) annual general meeting of the French publishers association – National Edition Syndicat (SNE) – re-elected Vincent Montagne as president for a new two-year term.

During the proceedings, several numbers were announced for the 2023-2024 edition of the organization’s market assessment.

The report shows that with revenues growing modestly by around 1.2 percent last year to 2,944.7 million euros ($3.1 billion), publishers’ turnover will see moderate growth in 2023 driven by increases in book prices. As the publishers emphasize, this is the financial outline of the market “in a context of persistent inflation.”

The trend, according to SNE statistics, shows the opposite dynamics in volume with a decline of 1.9 percent, or 439.7 million units sold. Taking a longer view and compared to 2019 before the pandemic, the book sector estimates its growth drivers at 4.9 percent in value and 1.1 percent in volume.

Syndykat – one of the most important associations of publishers in the international publishing business – indicates a decline in the number of new releases in the 2023-2024 market cycle examined today. They point to a -5 percent decline in the number of new releases between 2022 (38,743 titles) and 2023 (36,819 titles). This phenomenon, they explain, reflects a broader trend among publishers operating on the French market.

In 2018 and in 2023 – they report – production of new products will drop by 18 percent.

The three most important sectors: literature, comics, children’s literature

• “We see that general literature remains the leading sector, with a turnover of €627.8 million” ($671.9 million), according to a report released today Publishing prospects.
• In second place are comics, which, despite a 4.3% drop in value, achieved a turnover of €466.8 million ($499.6 million). This failure of comics is attributed to the “lower viability” of the market viability of manga.
• Children’s books remain in third place after general literature and comics, with a 1.9% increase in value and a turnover of 385.4 million euros ($412.5 million).

Publishers also emphasize that in 2022–2023 the value of international translation and co-publishing rights increased by 3.4%.

Montagne: A cautious look at artificial intelligence

In his remarks to the gathering, re-elected President Montagne spoke about the challenges facing the publishing industry and the entire book industry.

He was the first to mention artificial intelligence and the copyright challenge of large language models that train on protected text without licensing or paying for that intellectual property.

SNE’s plans also include calling for regulation in the face of the “rapid and continuing growth of the used book market.”

Montagne said he expects to develop tools to better manage the sector’s ecological transition and pledged to work on the launch of the Filéas project, described as a source of information for booksellers, publishers and authors.

He said publishers must continue to promote books and reading through initiatives designed for each sector of the publishing industry. He also plans to organize the next Paris Book Festival at the new Grand Palais in April 2025 through his subsidiary Paris Livres Événements.

SNE announced a merger with LivrEmploi, a recruitment platform for the publishing industry, which was launched in April to make entry-level positions more attractive and easier for those interested to find them.

SNE officials elected

In addition to the reinstatement of Montagne from Média-Participations, the French publishers elected members of the board, which includes:

• Louis Delas, École des loisirs (vice-president)
• Marion Glénat-Corveler, Éditions Glénat (vice president)
• Laure Leroy, Éditions Zulma (treasurer)

The elected directors are:

• Cécile Boyer-Runge, Media Participation
• Alban Cerisier, Madrigall
• Stéphanie Ferran, Hachette Livre
• Antoine Gallimard, Madrigall
• Gilles Haéri, Albin Michel
• Nathalie Jouven, Hachette Livre
• Liana Levi, Liana Levi Editions
• Katarzyna Lucet, Editis
• Vera Michalski-Hoffmann, Libella
• Françoise Nyssen, Actes Sud
• Denis Olivennes, Editis

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You can find more information on the publishing outlook for the French market here and more on industry statistics here.