The French, as usual, insist on being different. As independent bookstores crash and burn in the United States and Britain, the book market in France is doing just fine. France boasts 2,500 bookstores, and for every neighborhood bookstore that closes, another seems to open. From 2003 to 2011 book sales in France increased by 6.5 percent.<\/p>\n
E-books account for only 1.8 percent of the general consumer publishing market here, compared with 6.4 percent in the United States. The French have a centuries-old reverence for the printed page.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two things you don\u2019t throw out in France \u201d\u201d bread and books,\u201d\u009d said Bernard Fixot, owner and publisher of XO, a small publishing house dedicated to churning out best sellers. \u201cIn Germany the most important creative social status is given to the musician. In Italy it\u2019s the painter. Who\u2019s the most important creator in France? It\u2019s the writer.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n