A Publisher's Dream

photo by Magnus Skoglöf

Abbe Bonnier is a man of action.  In the spring of 1997, French television showed a documentary on Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor-in-chief of Elle, who had been paralyzed completely by a stroke. The heart-wrenching story captured the hearts of French audiences and sent the book publishing world into a frenzy.

Abbe knew he had to move quickly.  The next day, on a plane en route to the London Book Fair, he read the manuscript for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.  While staying in the same hotel as the French publisher for the book, he became the first person outside of France to grab book rights.  The novel hit Swedish bookstores after a whirlwind eight weeks.

As a publisher, you are a beacon that can shed light on something and say, 'This is important'.
—Abbe Bonnier

"It sold 50,000 copies in Sweden," Abbe says proudly. "It was absolutely fantastic!"

Albert "Abbe" Bonnier is now Publisher of Bonnierförlagen, home to Bonnier's combined book operations in Sweden.  The group includes the publishing house that bears the name Albert Bonnier, though it is named after his grandfather's grandfather, not Abbe. Bonnierförlagen publishes 70 non-fiction books each year.

Abbe is proud of the catalog they've amassed.  "We publish history books, reportage books and documentary books. It is obvious that people who are around 30 years are interested in modern history. That is a relatively new phenomenon. We have published Barack Obama's two books: his biography and his political vision. It is wonderful that the U.S. now has a president who is an author!"

He also cites Christian Azar's Makten över klimatet ("The Power of the Climate") as a notable read.  "It describes the whole climate problem from a historical perspective and has topped the critics' lists since it was published. It is also very easy to understand-it is difficult to find people who can write readable stories that deal with complex subjects. As a publisher, you are a beacon that can shed light on something and say, 'This is important'. And in this case, we have succeeded."

The next major initiative is a huge project that will be released in 2010, when the next election to the Swedish parliament is held. 22 of Sweden's best journalists and social scientists are writing one book each about Sweden's prime ministers during the 20th and 21st centuries. The series will be published both separately and in a collectors' box.

"It's biographies made in a personal way. It is both good political history and a history about the rise of democracy in Sweden."

Abbe's still holding out hope for a couple of dream acquisitions.  "It would be great to receive a phone call from Raoul Wallenberg (a Swedish humanitarian and diplomat who disappeared in 1945), saying 'I'm home now.' But that probably won't happen...Otherwise, the dream is that someone finds a document that alters our view of history. A little 'Indiana Jones'. Such stories are difficult to beat. "