It is rare for Quebec publishers to reach the 50-year mark, as Québec Amérique is doing this year. While Fides and Boréal, for example, are older, Québec Amérique is the only publishing house that has remained family-owned. In 2021, it was passed down from father to daughter, from Jacques to Caroline Fortin, and even today it is still a big family, as M.Me Fortin with his authors, his collaborators and his catalogue of over 2,000 titles – some of which have aged admirably, others marked by time. Memories and future.
When Caroline Fortin took stock of the anniversary and wrote the history of the house for a major commemorative magazine, “she became aware of how many great changes we have experienced in fifty years.” Changes that have affected books, publishing and the world.
This has gone so far that the director and publisher refuses to go public and say what she hopes for Québec Amérique in the next ten or twenty years.
It is true that since the first textbook published by Jacques Fortin in 1974, the publishing industry has seen the advent of computers and digital technology. The dictionary Junior visual, The book, presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1987, is considered the world’s first color book designed and produced on a computer. The project was led by François Fortin, son and brother.
Then came the Internet. “I remember that very well,” says M.Me Fortin: During those years, everyone all over the world said that the book was dead and everything would go digital… That was a false prophecy and a sweet revenge for the paper book.
Finally, social networks have shaken up the world of media and book advertising.
These technological changes also gave rise to over a hundred new publishing houses in Quebec, leading to a literary boom that continues strong today, even as the market becomes increasingly fragmented.
Double publish or stop
“I always tell my father: ‘After all, you had it easy,'” says Caroline Fortin, and not entirely in jest.
The fact that Jacques Fortin was known as a publisher of whims and willingness to take risks was also due to the fact that the time allowed it, M believes today.Me Continue.
Publish a Pierre Vallières that all other publishers had rejected… Make a first edition of the Cat perplexed, because the author Yves Beauchemin was determined to ensure that his book, which was expensive to produce due to its size, remained as accessible as possible to readers and ultimately wanted to become the first bestseller in Quebec’s history… offering René Lévesque a phenomenal advance for a future biography…
“My father always went all out,” smiles M.Me Fortin, also because he sold so many when he was working on it… Hey, he sold 100,000 copies of René Lévesque’s biography in the first week,” in 1986.
Today, double sales at this level are rare, if not impossible. A bestseller is defined as 1,000 copies sold, not 10,000. “And to sell 10,000 copies, you have to work hard,” admits the publisher, even with big names like Mariana Mazza.
“Nothing is safe anymore. Even the most relevant book can be lost if it is published during a controversy that overshadows everything in the media. For some titles, that is sad.”
Others are doing well and have exemplary careers. The way to Chlifaby Michèle Marineau, who followed her CassiopeiaBack then – around 1990 – they were among the first serious youth stories. Chlifa“It’s unbelievable: we still sell 5,000 copies a year,” says the publisher happily.
Together for everything
What is the difference between the leadership of Caroline Fortin, who bought the house in 2021, and that of her father? “My father was a loner“I make my decisions as a team. We discuss things, sometimes it gets heated, we don’t always agree.”
She is also part of the publishers’ community, a kind of “coopetition” specific to Quebec publishing. “I like to help,” says the woman who led the beginnings of the Quebec project and is guest of honor at the prestigious 2021 Frankfurt fair.
What hopes can we have for Quebec America, which is facing this difficult-to-predict future? The breakthrough that began in France three years ago must work and prove profitable, says the editor.
“In the first year we sent everything: guides, children’s books, novels… It cost us a fortune. Distribution in France is complicated…”
Then, The Wrenby Jean-François Beauchemin, has had an impressive critical career and very good sales figures in France. Québec Amérique has decided to follow in his footsteps and continue in literature. Geneviève Jannelle, with Breathe deeplyseems to be following this dynamic, notes the director. “If we can expand our market in this way, that would be good. And also for the authors,” who would receive more royalties and recognition as a result.
Counterexample: “In Quebec, I am very worried about readership,” admits M.Me Fortin: There are not enough readers here, the market is very small. And above all, we cannot promote reading and make it a foundation of society. We see it in France: reading can permeate all areas of active life and culture. I would like us here to give ourselves the means to love reading and books just as much.” So that is the wish for the 50th anniversary of Québec Amérique.
