The Culture & Media Club met on November 29 in the Centre National du Livre for its second evening-debate, entitled " REVOLUTION in the world of publishing: restructuring, new professions and career opportunities in the oldest cultural industry sector ". Forty alumni came to listen to Bernard de Boucheron (writer and prizewinner of the Prix de l'Académie française 2004), Antoine Dufeu (author and co-founder of IKKO editions), Guillaume Robert (Editor in Chief at Flammarion) and Francoise Truffaut (founder of Françoise Truffaut editions). Combining humour with erudition, the speakers shared their experiences with the audience.

The three editors began by describing their profession, which included running a small new publishing house and leading a major publishing group. Francoise Truffaut described her job as " Passion... Adventure... Utopia ", while Antoine Dufeu spoke of " Choice, Dissemination and Independence ". Guillaume Robert, on the other hand summed it up neatly in one word, namely " Support ". In lyrical mode, editors were also described as lovers of " polygamous idylls " who develop privileged relationships with a number of consenting authors at one and the same time.

The evolution of the French editorial landscape, with its recent spate of mergers and acquisitions, has had little impact on the profession as a whole. Flammarion, taken over by the Italian group Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera in 2000, was able to adapt to the transition and preserve its editorial line, while benefitting from the logistical support provided by the Rizzoli group. The young publishers have adapted by developing creative positioning and formats less threatened by competition from the leading groups. IKKO publishes the " Graph-machines " by Henri Chopin, for example, visual poems to the beauty of mechanics and complex typography. Francoise Truffaut Editions publishes " Alger nooormal ", a book in a square format with " phonore " stories, a word developed from the contraction of photographic and sound, as the book also contains a CD. It would seem, however, that there has been a transfer of risk from the large publishers to the smaller houses.

The main difference between these houses lies in their access to an effective dissemination (booksellers) and distribution network (logistics chain). The stakes are high because dissemination and distribution can cost as much as 60% of the price of a book. The major groups have their own structure and benefit from significant economies of scale.

The author also had a word to say among all these economic and technical considerations. Bernard de Boucheron spoke about his pleasure in writing, his experience as an author and his concept of the world of publishing. The humour found in his novel Court Serpent was reflected in his tales of life in his new profession as a writer, his incredible adventures during the promotion of his book and his surprise at becoming an Academy prizewinner. He has just published a children's book, already a best-seller, entitled " a King, a Princess and an Octopus ". His second novel, " Coup de fouet ", published by Gallimard is eagerly awaited.

What struck us was the vitality and dynamism of this fast-moving sector, bringing to mind a quotation from La Fontaine " Work is a treasure ".