With around 300 points of sale, Fnac is the largest bookseller today in France, Image: Fnac in Lille, Publishing Perspectives, Eric Dupuy
By Eric Dupuy | @duperico
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Rights Sales Comprised 11,963 Contracts in 2024
French publishers report that they faced a challenging international rights market in 2024, with total contracts dropping 2.6 percent to 14,265 deals compared to the previous year. The details arrived near the end of June in an industry report from the country’s publishers’ association, the Syndicat national de l’édition.
The decline masks divergent trends between rights sales and co-editions, reflecting shifts in world publishing dynamics and emerging market resistance to international content.
While rights sales declined 4 percent year-over-year, co-editions surged 6.1 percent, demonstrating publishers’ adaptive strategies in illustrated book markets.
“Rights sales comprised 11,963 contracts, with co-editions reaching 2,302 deals—83 percent of them concentrated in children’s publishing.”
Rights sales comprised 11,963 contracts, with co-editions reaching 2,302 deals—83 percent of them concentrated in children’s publishing. This highlights the continued strength of collaborative publishing models, particularly for high-production-cost illustrated titles.
Spanish emerged as the leading translation language for the third consecutive year, capturing 11 percent of total contracts through both rights sales and co-editions (1,603 contracts).
Italian was the second language at 10 percent, and Chinese followed as the third-most frequent translation language at 9 percent. These three top languages plus German, English, Portuguese, and Polish accounted for more than half of all contracts signed, according to the report’s data.
Genres and Markets
Comics maintained their dominance in French international sales with 3,689 titles sold—30.1 percent of total rights sales—followed by children’s books at 2,619 titles (23.8 percent) and fiction at 2,026 titles (16.9 percent).
“European co-edition partnerships remain robust, with Spain leading at 469 contracts—354 with Spain and 92 with Mexico—followed by Italy (403) and the UK and US markets (258).”
Together, these three categories—bandes dessinées or comics; children’s books; and fiction—represented 69.7 percent of all 2024 rights transactions, demonstrating a continued international appetite, the report indicates, for French creative content in visual and narrative formats.
The success of French comics in international markets is particularly visible in German-speaking territories, which reclaimed the top position from Polish markets in 2024.
Meanwhile, South Korean publishers dominated acquisitions in current affairs and documentary categories, while Dutch publishers remained the primary buyers of practical books.
Geographic Challenges and Opportunities
The executive board of the French publishers’ association, includes, from left, vice-president Louis Delas, Ecole des loisirs; vice-president Marion Glénat of the eponymous Glénat publishing house; president Vincent Montagne of Media-Participations; and director Renaud Lefebvre. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Eric Dupuy
China’s continued retreat from international rights purchasing presents a significant challenge for French publishers. Once France’s leading international partner, Chinese acquisitions have declined 33 percent since pre-pandemic levels, reflecting broader nationalist trends in content consumption. This decline affects multiple categories, although Chinese buyers still lead in children’s books (631 titles), social sciences (186 titles), and educational reference materials (44 titles).
European co-edition partnerships remain robust, with Spain leading at 469 contracts—354 with Spain and 92 with Mexico—followed by Italy (403) and the UK-US market (258). These partnerships, essential for cost-sharing in illustrated book production, demonstrate the continued strength of transatlantic and intra-European publishing relationships.
Digital Rights Advance
Digital rights’ inclusion in deals occurred in 30.4 percent of all contracts in 2024, up from 26.4 percent in 2023, indicating growing publisher confidence in international digital distribution.
- World-rights grants decreased slightly to 45 percent of contracts.
- English and Arabic language deals showing higher-than-average world-rights percentages—63 percent for United States deals and 73 percent to 85 percent for Middle Eastern Arabic markets.
The emergence of previously overlooked markets, publishers say, offers compensation for declining traditional partnerships. Polish (730 sales), Korean (547), and Turkish (492) markets demonstrated significant growth, suggesting diversification opportunities beyond established language territories.
Financial Impact and Strategic Outlook
International rights activity contributes 3 percent to 5 percent of responding publishers’ revenues, while co-editions can represent up to 30 percent of relevant editorial departments’ turnover. This revenue diversification proves crucial for publishers’ financial stability, particularly as domestic markets face continued pressure.
Looking ahead, French publishers must navigate increasing resistance to international content in key markets while exploring emerging opportunities in previously underserved regions. The rise of artificial intelligence in translation and growing demand for foreign-language audio rights is presenting both challenges and opportunities for traditional publishing models.
The industry’s ability to maintain cultural exchange through rights sales and co-editions will prove critical in an increasingly fragmented global publishing landscape, where nationalist content preferences threaten the international circulation of diverse voices and narratives.
International French Publishing Market Shows Resilience
At the worldwide scale, French publishers’ revenues fell 1.5 percent in 2024 to €2.902 billion (US$3.4 billion), while unit sales dropped more significantly by 3.1 percent to 426 million copies.
“Publishers have simultaneously pursued a deliberate rationalization strategy, reducing new title production by 1.6 percent to 36,232 titles—a figure below even 2020’s pandemic-affected levels and representing an 18.9-percent decline over five years.”
Despite this, the publishers say the market demonstrates remarkable resilience when viewed against pre-pandemic benchmarks, with revenues up 3.4 percent compared to 2019 levels, even as volume remain 2.1 percent below 2019 volume.
The association’s analysis sees this performance reflecting a successful price-management strategy, with book prices rising 1.4 percent according to French state institute INSEE data, helping offset declining unit sales.
Publishers say the market’s ability to maintain value while experiencing volume contraction underscores the industry’s adaptation to post-COVID consumer behavior and economic pressures.
Publishers have simultaneously pursued a deliberate rationalization strategy, reducing new title production by 1.6 percent to 36,232 titles—a figure below even 2020’s pandemic-affected levels and representing an 18.9-percent decline over five years. This strategic pullback is intended to prevent market saturation while optimizing inventory management.
Sector Performance Reveals Stark Contrasts
Literature emerged in the 2024 report as the sole growth driver, posting a robust 5.7-percent increase driven by romance fiction and crime novel successes. Literature now commands 24 percent of the total market, while all other segments experienced declines, most notably:
- Comics and manga (-10.1 percent),
- Science and technology (-9.6 percent), and
- Reference works (-7 percent).
The pocket format maintained its strategic importance, generating €425.4 million in revenue (15.4 percent of total sales) and 111.8 million units (26.2 percent of volume), with literature dominating this segment at €251.7 million.
Excluding manga, pocket-format sales actually grew 1 percent in value, reinforcing manga’s role as a market stabilizer and accessibility driver.
The digital publishing segment struggled with a 1.6-percent decline to €278.6 million (US$326 million), although sales of literature in digital formats jumped 8.5 percent, led by romance and science fiction.
Professional and academic digital content continues to dominate the digital landscape, representing 67.2 percent of total digital revenues at €187.1 million (US$219.9 million) primarily through database subscriptions in legal and medical sectors.
Publishers say the French market’s 2024 performance highlights an industry in transition, successfully managing inventory rationalization while maintaining pricing power in a challenging economic environment.
With literature driving growth and digital transformation accelerating in specific segments, French publishers appear well-positioned to navigate ongoing market consolidation while preserving their competitive edge in international markets.
More on the French market is here, more on industry statistics in many markets of the world is here, and more on translation and publication rights is here.