In terms of publishing, there are sudden outbursts almost as marked as in the world of fashion, with unexpected successes, “must haves”, more or less successful copies and cruel flops. At one time, it was Swedish detective novels, another, “feel good books” or more or less “dark” romances aimed at young readers. From now on, in a global book market which is marking time, while that of classic comics is being eaten away by second-hand purchases, a segment is the dream of all publishers: that of graphic novels. If Riad Sattouf has, for more than a decade already, renewed the genre between reportage and autobiography and occupied the top places in the bestseller rankings, the enthusiasm is now general.
As Christmas approaches, graphic novels, which are sometimes novel only in name, invade the shelves of bookstores with their square outlines, their thicker format, their more unstructured narration than traditional comics. There are adaptations of great classics like The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, images by Manu Larcenet (Dargaud); surveys like Gregory at the Arena; original documentaries like Tuxedoon the life of Yves Saint Laurent, at Albin Michel; or creations like What I like is monsters, by Emil Ferris (Monsieur Toussaint Louverture), whose first volume was, despite its 416 pages, a big success in 2018 and whose sequel has just been published. Some publishers have long experience of this type – Albin Michel was once the publisher of The Echo of the Savanesothers are just getting started, like Stock which publishes The economy for the 99%, by Thomas Porcher. Some are pure players like Delcourt or Glénat, others generalist houses. They all dream of attracting a new audience and expanding the scope of their turnover.
The genre is not new, but the enthusiasm is new. “Comics have always covered all subjects and the graphic novel was born in the 1980s, first in the United States, then here with the magazine To be continued. The idea was to address an audience of general literature and to allow ourselves new things”, summarizes Joann Sfar, author of classic comics, reports and, recently, of We will live (The Arenas) and What to do with the Jews ? to be published in January, a historical sum of 500 pages on Judaism and anti-Semitism. The recent success of a handful of titles has done the rest among professionals, who have long been cautious about this segment: A world without end by Christophe Blain and Jean-Marc Jancovici (Dargaud), best seller of the year 2022 in France, the History of Jerusalem by Christophe Gaultier and Vincent Lemire (Les Arènes) or Small Country by Gaël Faye, Sowa and Sylvain Savoia (Dupuis).
Graphic novels, a gateway to serious subjects
Several reasons explain this success. First, the interest shown in it by young readers, including on very serious subjects. When she decided to investigate the sequence that led to the death of Samuel Paty, sociologist Valérie Igounet did not hesitate about the form she wanted to give to her work: “I absolutely wanted to make a novel graphic so that Samuel Paty’s generation of students can read it and have the possibility of teaching with it.” It will be Black pencil (Studiofact), which serves as a support and gateway to in-class meetings.
Then, the graphic novel reaches a more female audience than that of the Franco-Belgian comic strip “48 pages, Tintin – Asterix”. But also a new readership, not very literary, who wants to be informed without reading a tedious essay. Twelve years ago, Laurent Beccaria and his publishing house Les Arènes experienced initial success with Economixthe translation of an American book which has sold nearly 200,000 copies and of which 16,000 were still sold last year. “When it comes to topics that interest them personally, people are willing to go to great lengths and read cutting-edge books. On the other hand, when they are trying to better understand a current topic, text-to-image entertainment with a high level of knowledge works better”, notes the editor who also published Woman, life, freedom under the direction of Marjane Satrapi at Iconoclaste, of which he has taken over since the death of his wife, Sophie de Sivry.
“Yesterday, it was the voice or the image that led to history books. Today, with rare exceptions, neither TV shows nor podcasts play this role, the graphic novel could be an interesting preconditioning for my readers”, notes an editor who studies the market before launching. By publishing an educational Chess ManualGabriel Zafrani at Robert Laffont hopes to convince a beginner audience to take it up but also attract the most advanced, convinced by the signatures of three game experts. “The graphic novel comes as a medium between the essay which takes time and makes a little afraid and the audiovisual documentary which leaves fewer traces in memory And as the screenwriter of. Sapienshumor is a narrative lubricant”, adds Celina Salvator, editorial director of comics at Albin Michel, a house which had enormous success with the adaptation of the work by Yuval Noah Harari. Because the object is beautiful, the neat covers and the price – often around 25 euros – reasonable but not ridiculous, the graphic novel has become in a few years the perfect gift for Christmas, a birthday or a simple courtesy visit. it has the advantage of being more serious than a classic comic book but less impressive than a “real” book.
The uncertainty of profitability
But now, there are so many publishers in the segment that not all of them will be able to generate substantial income from it. Because if it is extremely lucrative in the event of success, the graphic novel can also quickly become a huge industrial failure. Hardcover, color printing, production time spanning one or two years, double value to be paid for the screenwriter and the artist, superior quality of paper, the break-even point is higher than for classic literature. At less than 10,000 copies, profitability is uncertain. And, unlike traditional comic book series which also live off their glorious past, each release is a gamble. However, few of them reach the 20,000 copies synonymous with success.
Another problem is that it becomes difficult to secure the services of the best designers. Those most in demand have orders for the next four or five years and refuse to commit beyond that. As a result, the quality of part of the production suffers and so do sales. Finally, very well known to traditional booksellers, general publishing houses struggle to be identified in points of sale specializing in comics which nevertheless represent an essential distribution channel, with professionals who are very influential with their customers.
To minimize risks, publishers tempted by the adventure, but very late, do not rule out a partnership strategy with comics specialists. The recent takeover by Editis of Delcourt, a heavyweight in comics and manga with more than 100 million euros in turnover, marks the opening of a new era in this area. While the first signs of slowing down in the segment are being felt, the next Christmas sales will be, for many players, a test of the strategy to follow in 2025. Stop or still?
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