Les éditions sociales and La Dispute are undergoing a renewal strategy as they approach their centenary, with new leadership and a shift in distribution.
Publishing houses renew strategies
Les éditions sociales and Les éditions La Dispute, two French publishing houses with a combined history of nearly a century, are implementing a renewal strategy as they approach their centenary. Les éditions sociales was founded in 1927, while Les éditions La Dispute was established in 1997 by former employees of Les éditions sociales.New leadership and team changes
The transition from Richard Lagache, who founded Les éditions La Dispute, to a new team has been supported by editorial director Marina Simonin, head of production and artistic direction Clara Laspalas, and head of bookstore and press relations Noémie Brun. Floé Riffaud is also beginning an internship at the publishing house, and editor Nicolas Vieillescazes joined in May after previously working at the independent publishing house Amsterdam.Impact of distributor change
The change in distributor, from Hobo-Makassar to Belles Lettres Diffusion-Distribution (BLDD), occurred amid the bankruptcy of Makassar at the start of summer. This change did not prevent Les éditions sociales and La Dispute from experiencing financial losses, with each recording 130,000 euros in losses for the year. To address this, the two publishing houses secured a loan from the national book center (CNL) and launched a subscription campaign.Improved restocking and new titles
Since switching to BLDD, the publishing house has seen improvements in restocking, which is crucial for publishing foundational works. The latest title from L'Institut La Boétie, L'État et la révolution citoyenne, published by La Dispute, is currently selling between 100 and 250 copies per day. This pace is considered much faster than under the previous distributor.New political program in preparation
The publishing house is also preparing the program of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the presidential candidate of France Insoumise, L'avenir en commun: le programme de la nouvelle France. The new edition, published by La Dispute at 4.90 euros, already has 80,000 copies printed, with more than 30,000 copies ordered through channels in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.Focus on Marx and new collections
The publishing house is conducting a campaign to secure prescriptions in bookstores, using the Grande Édition Marx et Engels (GEME) as a key component. This collection offers reference editions and translations of the works of Marx and Engels in French. The "Découvrir" collection, aimed at young readers with critical pedagogy books, is also being promoted, with titles such as Découvrir Marx and Découvrir Fanon selling several thousand copies each.Future plans and merger
The publishing houses are redesigning layouts and covers and continuing a tour across France to meet independent booksellers. A century after the creation of Les éditions sociales, the two brands, which each publish about ten new titles per year, are expected to merge under a single entity, though the form of this merger remains to be defined.Historical context and evolution
Les éditions sociales was founded in 1927 under the tutelage of the French Communist Party and at one time under the direction of the Comintern. Since the 1970s, the publishing house has attempted its first transformation into an independent entity, driven by communist philosopher Lucien Sève and Richard Lagache. La Dispute was created shortly after, focusing on a social sciences catalog devoted to the analysis of capitalism and class and gender relations.
