1 Introduction

Not much is known about the realities of book distribution in Canada, and the specific issues facing book diffusers and distributors are rarely studied. We know little about book distributors. There have been several studies dealing with authors, publishers and the publishing sector, there is data on the retail trade through bookstores as well as the mass market, and there has also been an interest in reader's consumption practices. Yet, while the publisher is the main editorial link in the book industry, the fact remains that distributors are its main commercial link: they play the pivotal role between supply and demand, and between publisher and retailer (bookseller, etc.). Their economic importance within the book trade is unquestionable, and they bear primary responsibility for moving books. In a country the size of Canada, this is a formidable challenge.

Over the past few years, efforts have been made to make up for this lack of knowledge of the distribution of French-language books in Canada. In 2001, SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles — the Quebec cultural businesses development corporation) drew the first economic portrait of the book trade, and the diffusion and distribution sector in particular, through the publication of the work by Marc Ménard, Les chiffres des mots.¹ Since 2001, OCCQ (Observatoire de la culture et des communi­cations du Québec — the Quebec culture and communications monitoring agency) began to gather data on new book sales in Quebec, which has gradually made it possible to describe trends in the movement of new books from one sector to another in the book trade. This data has been refined over the years (in particular, by more clearly distinguishing retail sales from textbook sales), and can now provide important lessons regarding the economic dynamics of the book trade. In 2004, it published an État des lieux du livre et des bibliothèques, which provided an in-depth study of the book trade, giving the first comparative analyses since the release of Chiffres des mots, particularly with respect to diffusion and distribution.² In 2006 and 2007, the OCCQ also carried out a specific investigation of exclusive distributors and diffusers of Quebec books.³ Lastly, in 2007 the Table de concertation interprofessionnelle du milieu du livre au Québec published an impressive Étude sur la mise en marché des nouveautés par le système de l'office au Québec,⁴ which thoroughly examined the economy resulting from the release of new titles in Quebec. This study refers to these publications throughout.

The Department of Canadian Heritage is interested in all sectors of the book trade, their special features and their interrelationships. It aims to explore and gain a clear picture of each of the links in the supply chain, both their operations and the results of their professional activities, and hopes to be in a position to contribute to the book industry's efforts to confront a constantly changing environment, which raises some important issues. In 2007 the Department funded a study on the retail book trade in Canada,⁵ which shed new light on the health of the retail trade and resulting issues. In the same spirit of research and review, it commissioned this study on the distribution of French-language books in Canada, which has been carried out in parallel with a similar study on the English-language market. It is available in both official languages on the Canadian Heritage Web site at www.pch.gc.ca.

This study is the result of an in-depth analysis of quantitative and qualitative research conducted to date on the French-language book trade in Canada, specifically the book diffusion and distribution sector. It is also based on a large number of interviews conducted with diffusers and distributors, leaders of professional associations in the book trade, as well as book professionals, booksellers, publishers, etc.⁶ In light of the fundamental differences between the distribution models for trade titles and textbooks, it concentrates on trade publishing intended for a general readership and released mainly through the retail trade network.

This study consists of two main parts. The first attempts to present a portrait of the diffusion and distribution of French-language books in Canada by explaining the main aspects of the diffuser's and distributor's work in the various markets based on the conditions governing their professional activities. We look at the impact of Bill 51 in Quebec on the work of book distribution, we describe the conditions under which diffusers and distributors work with their main partners in the book trade — publishers on the one hand and retailers on the other — and we present the main communication and data transmission tools used throughout the supply chain. In the second part we discuss the main issues that influence the distribution of French-language books in Canada or that in the medium or long term could alter the environment for book diffusers and distributors.

It is important to note that the study includes certain limits relating mainly to the data-gathering approaches used in the previous studies. Considering the scattered geographical distribution of the French-language market, no specific data is available on French-language markets outside Quebec (except with respect to the number of publishers and titles published). However, the vast majority of French-language publishers outside Quebec are diffused inside Quebec and are distributed by a Quebec distributor. For some data, particularly with respect to the latest study on the système d'office, titles from French-Canadian publishers outside Quebec are included in the titles under study; references to Quebec titles will therefore include all Canadian French-language titles.

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