You’ve been browsing the shelves of your bookstore for barely a few minutes and you already can’t remember the book you came to get (let alone its author!).
You browse the Literature section, drawn in by the covers, reading the summaries, and snippets of conversation you overhear here and there… You stop in front of a large table, the one in the center of the bookstore, every square inch of which is covered with novels, some elegantly bound with a red band and white lettering—the ones that have won literary prizes. The names of well-known authors, either because they write bestseller after bestseller or because the entire press has been talking about them for months. From Lola Lafon’s novel to the latest Joël Dicker, from the biography of Joe Biden to the book that inspired the hit Netflix series. You flit from one title to another, from Robert Laffont to Flammarion, from Gallimard to this new collection you weren’t familiar with, and then, out of the corner of your eye, you see the bookseller grab a book from the table to his left, show it to a customer, and suggest she discover a new author he himself has read and loved. Then you wonder if the bookseller has actually read the hundreds of books filling his shop, if he knows all the books by your favorite author. If it’s the publishing houses that introduce him to new releases every month. How did all these works, ultimately, end up here, in the bookstore, the final link in what we commonly call the book chain?
In France, the book industry, broadly defined (publishing, distribution, retail, and libraries), employs over 80,000 people, representing nearly 20% of all jobs in the cultural sector. The creation, editing, production, and marketing of a book involve numerous steps and a wide range of professions.
Let’s trace the links in the book chain together, one by one, to understand the path a book takes, from manuscript to bookstore shelves.
The edition
At the heart of every book’s creation and publication lies an author and a manuscript (or a project, for illustrated books). The author then embarks on a process, often lengthy, sometimes very expensive, and unpredictable, to find a publisher, or may choose to submit their manuscript to Édith & Nous to benefit from personalized matchmaking services with multiple publishers. Indeed, Virginie Fuertes, an editor at Éditions l’Archipel, recently told us that “advances [in digital technology] benefit both authors and publishers, but it is often difficult for authors to navigate the system and send their work to the right publisher at the right time.”
The editor identifies and selects the manuscript that will be published. Often the first professional reader of a text, they guide the author through the writing and rewriting process, identifying areas for improvement that will enhance the book’s quality and potential. They can also provide the author with sufficient perspective to choose the best title. The editor offers their opinion, advice, and support to the author: their role reflects the etymology of their name (from the Latin * edo* , to help at birth).
The publisher designs, prepares, and oversees the book production process, acting as the conductor of an orchestra. They organize the proofreading and editing of the text to ensure that no spelling, grammar, or typographical errors have escaped the author’s attention. They are also responsible for (among other things) the layout, the choice of cover (in consultation with the author), and the writing of the back cover copy . The publisher also sets the price of the book before its publication. In short, the publisher transforms a manuscript into a book.
The impression
The first link in the book marketing chain is printing. After the creation phase, once the manuscript has been proofread, the cover designed, the price set, and the final proof approved, the book begins its public life, starting with its journey to the printer. The publisher gives the go-ahead to the printer, who then takes over, meticulously following the steps outlined in a precise and well-established set of specifications.
The printer’s primary responsibility is to check the file. Next, they prepare the setup (registering the plates, adjusting the feeder, marking the sheets, etc.) and set up the press. The specifications they follow detail the production deadlines, costs, paper quality and type, as well as all the logistics. Printing is done on large-format sheets called signatures, which contain from 8 to 96 pages depending on the printing press. The binding process then involves folding, assembling, and gluing the printed sheets, fresh from the press, to the cover.
Today, digital printing offers new solutions for printers, publishers, and distributors. There’s no longer any need for warm-up time for machines or for presses to be started only after a certain quantity is printed. Printers can operate on demand, allowing them to keep pace with the tight production schedule of a book. They print quickly and at a reasonable price. This has the advantage of reducing stock levels of printed books, enabling small print runs when needed, and further compressing production time. And for the environment, there’s also the clear benefit of reducing waste and chemical pollution.
The broadcast
To be displayed in bookstores, a book must first be ordered by your bookseller. And for a book to be ordered, publishing houses must ensure what is called its distribution. Book distribution relies primarily on a sales force made up of one or more representatives. It can be handled internally by the publisher or outsourced to a sales agency working for several publishers. The largest distribution agencies generally belong to publishing groups.
In practical terms, publishers pay a team of sales representatives who visit your bookseller every month to offer a list of new books from the catalogs of several publishers, or more rarely, from a single publishing house (particularly for specialized editions). The bookseller, who will listen to the representative’s advice on the subject matter of a novel, the themes of an essay, and its potential, will consider the editorial line of each publishing house, ensure they offer their customers a wide enough selection to satisfy the greatest number of tastes, and then decide whether or not to accept a particular book. They will also choose whether to order several copies to create a display or just one to enrich their existing stock.
For smaller bookstores, visits from a sales representative aren’t as frequent, but an order form allows them to make their selections online and thus do their shopping. This order form is a regular and automatic shipment of new releases, new editions, or reprints that distributors send to booksellers. Beforehand, the bookseller uses an order form to inform the distributor, in the desired quantity, of the collections and categories of books (bestsellers, bestsellers, debut novels, paperback collections, art books, etc.) for which they wish to receive this automatic shipment. The bookseller then pays for the books received and can return unsold items (a rare practice in the book trade).
But shelf space in bookstores is expensive, and ordered books are quickly replaced: one new release chases another, a literary prize knocks a novel off the bestseller list. The work of the sales representative (and a good one at that) is therefore crucial. To give a book every chance of success, their advice is a real asset for both the publishing house and the author. The representative’s rounds allow them, among other things, to present new releases to booksellers, record pre-orders (which are noted), promotions and restocks, and track returns. Given the steady increase in the number of titles published, the distributor must balance the sales potential of each bookstore with the publisher’s objectives. For large retailers like Fnac or Cultura, it’s a little different. They often have dedicated sales teams that go out to meet buyers. In the Paris region, the French book company (a subsidiary of Fnac) and Générale Librest work in the manner of wholesalers, providing sales services to communities.
Regardless of how distributors organize themselves, depending on the region (the challenges differ in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, or outside major cities) and the size of their points of sale, effective distribution still relies on strong teams of specialized sales representatives. However, not all publishing houses have distribution contracts (particularly those offering “minimum” publisher contracts; see our article on publishing contracts ), which significantly limits their ability to make a book visible to the widest possible audience and thus give it the best chance of being sold. Editing and publishing a book are not enough to guarantee it will find readers!
The distribution
Once ordered, the book must reach the shelves of bookstores and other points of sale. To do this, it must be delivered… Yes, elementary, you might say! But behind this seemingly simple task lies a complex and perfectly orchestrated logistics system, managed by what we call the distributor.
A distributor provides, on behalf of publishers, all the logistical services necessary for storage, replenishment, order management, and delivery to the various points of sale. Distribution, therefore, encompasses all the physical operations involved in moving the book from its finishing stage to the final point of sale. The distributor handles everything from the initial preparation of the book and packaging to shipping and transport, invoicing the bookstore and tracking payment, and managing returns of unsold copies.
For a publishing house, outsourcing distribution means freeing itself from all the commercial logistics and potential debt collection issues. But above all, it means gaining access to a large number of sales outlets. However, not all publishers work with distributors and must therefore manage supply issues themselves, centralize orders, process them, administer customer accounts, and so on. Publishers who don’t work with a distributor must therefore deploy significant internal resources. Publishing itself doesn’t necessarily require a very large initial investment, but distribution and marketing certainly do. Most often, a new publisher will therefore have the choice between a completely independent distribution model or using a dedicated agency.
In France, distribution is primarily handled by companies directly linked to publishing houses. The distribution function may or may not be exclusive: the distributor handles the distribution of its parent company’s books, but also those of other publishers who have entrusted it to them. The main distributors belong to large publishing groups (Hachette Distribution, Sodis for Gallimard, Interforum for the Editis group, etc.) and form an essential link in the book supply chain.
From the moment a book arrives at the distributor until it is handed over to the carrier, order preparation time is between 24 and 36 hours. These very short lead times are achieved thanks to highly efficient and complex systems, especially considering the sheer number of titles, clients, and orders!
Before signing a contract, authors should always ask publishers if they have a distribution agreement and with which distributor. Having your book published by a traditional publishing house is excellent news for any author, but if your novel has little or no visibility in bookstores because it simply isn’t being distributed there, it won’t have any chance of reaching its readership and selling. Reviewing distribution agreements is one of the selection criteria that Édith & Nous has implemented to accept or reject publishing houses on its platform. Indeed, to prevent authors from encountering unpleasant surprises, Édith & Nous carefully selects its partner publishers (you can find the list of publishers in the FAQ ).
Book sales outlets
In France, the emergence of the digital book (ebook) revolutionized the publishing world in the early 2010s, and many observers predicted the imminent demise of the printed book.
However, in its summary of publishing figures for 2019/2020 , the SNE (the French Publishers Association) specifies that revenue from digital book sales represents less than 9% of publishers’ total revenue… which means that, for authors, publishing a digital book and being listed online on Amazon KDP or Fnac is not enough to reach a wide readership! The vast majority of books are still sold in print, and bookstores as well as specialized retailers (Cultura, Fnac) account for more than 70% of book sales in France.
In France, there are between 20,000 and 25,000 book outlets (bookstores, large cultural retailers, supermarkets, etc.). Of this long list, 15,000 regularly sell books, and only 3,500 to 4,500 of them do so as their primary activity or generate a significant portion of their revenue from books.
Book production in France continues to increase. This is good news, excellent news in itself! But for an author, it primarily means that the road to success is long and difficult. It also means that it will be virtually impossible for an author to gain visibility and be read (the ultimate goal, needless to say) without the support of a solid publisher capable of effectively distributing their book to the thousands of bookstores in France… and, indeed, abroad.