Attendance drops at revamped Livre Paris

The revamped four-day Paris Book Fair, now called Livre Paris, closed last night (Sunday 20th March) with a drop in visitor numbers of about 15% from last year’s 180,000, which in turn were 10% fewer than the year before.

The decline reflects the fate of other fairs following last year’s terrorist attacks in Paris, and contrasts with a 30% increase in book fair media coverage, the organisers said.

Reactions to the transformed fair have been mixed. “It was neither a resounding success, nor a disaster,” commented Olivier Bétourné, c.e.o. of Editions du Seuil. Even though a number of publishers reported a lower turnover, “our sales were probably about the same as last year’s, but there were fewer exhibitors than usual and there weren’t enough differences in the fair itself to distinguish it from the 2015 ediition”, he said. The late night opening on Thursday (17th) was a complete flop, he added. Even bestselling authors failed to attract the usual crowds for their signings.

The €12 entry ticket for adults was also a target of criticism. “It is the equivalent of two paperbacks, which is much too expensive, and anyway the public should not be asked to pay for the honour of buying books,” Bétourné said. Students and seniors paid €6s and under-18s entered free of charge.

Marion Mazauric, founder and owner of publisher Au Diable Vauvert in the south of France, agreed. “It is absurd,” she said. “Entry should be free for everyone.” In mitigation, she said the wider aisles and convivial layout were a great improvement on last year’s fair. “We had many visitors on Saturday and Sunday, but regret that exhibition fees were raised by about 15% and that the late night was held on Thursday instead of Friday,” she said.

On the plus side, the programme of debates and meeting was widely applauded, the new graphic novels section provided a huge draw, and the also new “flanéries littéraires,” or thematic walk-abouts led by experts in their field, were a popular attraction, according to Livres Hebdo.

President François Hollande, accompanied by culture minister Audrey Azoulay, opened the fair on 16th March for the second time since he took office in 2012. He was not surprised when Société des Gens de Lettres (SGDL) president Marie Sellier told him about the economic difficulties facing authors, revealed in a new survey. “He said he was well aware of the problem”, she told The Bookseller. “Worrying us in particular is that young authors earn even less than their elders”, she added.

Politics were high profile this year, as several rightwing candidates in next year’s presidential election signed their recent manifesto books. Other candidates and top politicians, including Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, visited the fair, the notable absentee being former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Also political was the literary theme "résistance(s)" that signified “resistance against barbarity and intolerance, especially since last year’s terrorist attack against the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was aimed at culture”, outgoing SNE director Christine de Mazières told The Bookseller.

Marcelle Capiaumont, owner of the 10-year-old bookstore Le Lezard Amoureux in Cavaillon in the south of France, echoed others in saying that the debates and meetings were much better than in previous years, but bemoaned the professional day being held mid-week instead of on a Monday. “This meant I had to be away from the shop for two days instead of one,” she said.  

Other highlights in and around the fair included:

* The 150 members of the Booksellers Observatory, created by the French Booksellers Association (Syndicat de la Librairie Française, SLF) last June, recorded a 2.7% year-on-year increase in sales in 2015, which was stronger than the 1.5% increase reported by market research firm GfK. Sales of the 150 range between €100,000 and several million euros, and total €200m.

*  Eleven French literary agents from eight agencies have created the first French language agents association, Alliance des ALF (Agents Littéraires Français). The president is Laure Pécher of the Astier-Pécher agency.

*  The sixth biannual SOFIA/SNE/SGDL barometer of e-book usage revealed a stable market. The survey, carried out by OpinionWay in February, showed that 20% of respondents read e-books, 2% more than in 2015, and the number of readers pirating books has dropped 4 percentage points to 16%, mainly out of respect for copyright.

*  Some visitors to the fair’s first extramural event, Livre sur la Seine for children on 12th and 13th March, found it somewhat lacklustre, but the organisers promise it will be livelier next year.