If you have a wandering soul and are afraid of going in circles on weekends, there is a solution: go from one Book Fair to another across France, all year round. Like prizes, literary events abound in France. Among these, the Brive Book Fair, one of the most popular with those of Paris, Montreuil, Nancy, Lyon and Saint-Malo, which will take place this weekend of November 10. The opportunity to ask ourselves what the purpose of book fairs is, or rather for whom? First of all, to the municipalities. Which are thus more assured of attracting the local, or even national, press than with a carpentry fair or a competition for the largest omelette. Or again, who can, if they are in trouble with the justice system (Saint-Etienne) or the literary world (Orange), restore their virginity at reasonable expense.
To the writers, then, who see in their presence at a Book Fair a sign of recognition, the possibility of breaking their solitude and, in the event of participation in a debate, remuneration which is always good to take – from 150 to 450 euros depending on the service, compulsory remuneration in the event of financial support by the National Book Center. The icing on the cake, in Brive-la-Gaillarde, we can add the fun of the famous book train, known as the “cholesterol train”, and the thrills on the track of the no less famous nightclub Le Cardinal.
So the authors are fighting to be there, to the great despair of their publishers, who will have to cocoon and console them as long as they are seated in the hall alongside stars such as the stainless Amélie Nothomb, the popular Michel Bussi, the newly crowned writers (like Goncourt Jean-Batiste Andrea), the “seen on TV” (like Panayotis Pascot this year), or even these young ladies of romance, very present since TikTok entered the dance. You have to have phlegm and a good sense of self-deprecation to see hundreds of readers standing in front of you, totally indifferent to your great work. Finally, the Salons are suitable for the general public, of course. We can be delighted or surprised by it, but readers are fond of debates and dedications, even if it means waiting hours to obtain a short standard note.
The publishers, for their part, comply and remain on the alert, particularly for their sure values, when the vultures of competition are on the prowl. Because if it is easy to control them during meals (each editor has his own table where his authors are firmly invited), it is impossible to track them until the end of the night. When the Book Fair then rhymes with the Salon of All Dangers… And the journalists, you ask? How can we justify their presence during these same literary events? The appetite for behind the scenes and rumors, the proximity to writers, always more natural outside Saint-Germain-des-Près, in short, the love of a job well done. A self-sacrifice that can even push them to stay up late at night.