We remembered the great qualities of Jacques Duval, upon the announcement of his death on February 6. Have we emphasized enough his importance as an author? And for the entire Quebec book market? With The car guide and its exceptional success, which has returned year after year since 1967, “Jacques Duval cemented the foundations of the market, even before the book here became a professional industry”, indicated Jean Paré, who would like, for his Saint -Jean Éditeur, of a book with a similar destiny. A look at an exceptional success, unique in Quebec.
“It’s still the biggest sales success for us, it’s always at the top of the charts,” says with a smile Judith Landry, general manager, publishing, book sector, at Quebecor, which, with its 18 houses different publishing houses, including L’Homme and Libre Expression, produced its share of successful books. “There are years when a good Asterix comes out, and where Guide is then found no 2 on the list; but they are rare,” continues the director.
In Gaspard’s balance sheet, which counts sales of the Quebec book market in independent bookstores, Guide has been in the top ten bestsellers since 2012, and since 2018 in the top three positions. The car guide does not have independent bookstores as its main points of sale. And it sells just as much at the Auto Show as at the Book Fair.
The car guide is a typically local success. “We tried to sell the concept on the Anglo side,” says M.me Landry. “They don’t understand how it works to this extent for us… and know that it wouldn’t work for them. It’s a kind of Quebec specificity. »
Porn with tanks
The car guide talks about the inconsiderate love of Quebecers for their “tanks”. “This book could have worked in the United States,” believes literary sociologist Michel Lacroix, professor at UQAM. “They share this love of the automobile, this idea that it represents freedom, movement,” he continues. But they would have needed a Jacques Duval to lead the project, “someone with this credibility”.
A former car racer, specialist journalist, lover of language, “erudite, communicator, perfectionist”, as M recallsme Landry, “it’s rare,” concludes the sociologist. If Mr. Duval has sold the brand for a while, since bought by Quebecor, these values are still the basis of the Guidebrought to the last edition by Antoine Joubert, Gabriel Gélinas and Marc Lachapelle, journalists towards whom Mme Landry is full of praise.
The car guide provides dreams by proxy, believes Marie-Pier Luneau, director of the Group for Research and Studies on Books in Quebec and sociologist of literature. “Readers dream of these cars. For $37 — it’s really not expensive for what it is — you can feed your fantasies. »
Jean Paré exposes this sublimation differently. “In the success of Guide, there is something akin to porn,” he believes, with renewed, renewable, and re-nourished desire. “For customers, it’s between a beautiful book and a collector’s item. »
The editor confirms: at the last Auto Show, in addition to the last edition of guidee, it was the one from 1974 that sold the most, the one “from exactly fifty years ago. » A collection reflex which allows “old editions of the Guide » to continue living.
Sleepless nights writing
Because The car guide is due out in September, for the literary season, and because automakers unveil their most exciting models late in the year, often after June, manufacturing is a challenge. “It puts enormous pressure on production, which is carried out on a stretch a few sleepless nights,” says Mr. Paré.
TRUE ? Judith Landry smiles again. ” Quite. We do as much work as possible in advance, pre-assembly, for example. But in the end, we set up “a base camp”, with a real work chain, for five to eight weeks, with sleepless nights”.
“The journalists — they are excellent, it’s incredible! — write about the latest models. As soon as they have finished the page, it goes to revision and continues on its way to editing, etc.
“We have a special agreement with the printer, because sometimes we send the book a few hours or half a day late, because we are in the process of finishing it… They keep the presses waiting,” one other special treatment for Guide.
A production that resembles that of a newspaper more than that of a book, usually slower, more calm, right? “Ah, that’s true, I never thought of it like that. Every year, we tell ourselves at a certain point that we won’t make it; and every year, we get there. It’s intense. »
Today’s Men’s Almanac
In Quebec, where the great reader is a reader, The car guide has the distinction of being a number 1 book read by a larger mass of men. Can we think of another example of a book that is so popular with readers? The two sociologists of literature, each on their own, rack their brains to arrive at the same answer. : The People’s Almanac.
From the 18th centurye century to 1950, this book had the same kind of appeal. And the same ability to create a community around the collector reader: “As soon as we have a friend who needs to buy a new tank, they come to see my chum to talk about it, and consult my editions of Guide », Confided a co-collector.
The current challenges of Car guide ? Keep your price competitive, while book production costs are exploding. “We have almost no profit margin on that,” admits M.me Landry. “It’s a matter of volume. It works because we sell a lot of them. »
“I don’t know if the next generation will follow,” wonders Mme Luneau, with the climate challenges ahead and the questioning of the place of the individual car in travel.
Mme Landry is confident. “We’re doing a version for young people, with more special cars and fun facts, and it’s working very well. Guide has evolved over time, and includes electric cars and other concerns. I think that as long as people need to buy and repurchase a car, Guide will be successful. »
Jean Paré concludes: “I’m very happy that there are bombs like these in the book industry, and it doesn’t matter if it’s from a competitor. It takes a Car guide, it takes recipe books by Geneviève O’Gleman. It structures the market. »