Caraktère (Aérojournal) in administration

[FalkeEins]

" Dear readers, customers or subscribers,

We share a common passion, that of military history. As some of you may know, I launched Caraktère in June 2003 to produce the magazine I had dreamed of reading but which did not exist. Since then, things have gone from strength to strength. After Batailles & Blindés came Ligne de Front, Trucks & Tanks, then C-J Ehrengardt's Aérojournal was relaunched and, finally, LOS was born (which I conceived at the same time as Batailles & Blindés in 2003, but which took 12 years to become a reality!) Other magazines didn't survive. Not to mention books, where we have also demonstrated our expertise, which many of you appreciate. We have innovated, changed things and contributed to the writing of military history in French.
Today, with 2024 about to tip its hat and 2025 just around the corner, Caraktère is caught up in the economic reality, which is not brilliant and which worries us all. Since the start of the summer, sales of all our magazines have fallen significantly. The same applies to books and special issues. Subscriptions are down. Our sales are falling, while production costs remain high. Our request to suspend the PGE - which we were forced to take at the time of Covid - was rejected by the Banque de France in June, because our situation was not sufficiently deteriorated for the taste of its analysts. Time has taken its toll, and the deterioration has accelerated.
So I had to act, as founder and manager of the company, and that's why I was recently invited to the Commercial Court in Marseille, where Caraktère was born, to ask for help. So here we are, in receivership, like more than 68,000 other French companies to date.
We have little room for manoeuvre and the situation is complicated. It's too early to say whether Caraktère will be able to survive or not, but of course I promise to keep you informed here..."

from Yannis Kadari's FB page;

[Chris Goss]

Sad but I was aware that things were not good. Fingers crossed it survives

[FalkeEins]

Indeed. Yannis mentions that sales have dropped off particularly since mid-2024. I guess this is due - as in the UK - to the mess politicians (of all colours) are making of things..which impacts consumer confidence. Plus they'd got too big with too many titles ? Hopefully 'niche' publishers only putting out a few hundred copies are not so impacted by 'economic realities'..or are they even more so?

[Chris Goss]

Agreed. AJ was always a winner but they have been publishing all sorts of things of late

[leonventer]

Hi Neil,

Thanks very much for reposting that update. It's depressing, but good to know. I'm a huge fan of their books and magazines, so I'm hoping for the best.

Sadly, this downturn has already claimed other victims, including Christian Schmidt Fachbuchhandlung, which was my favorite bookstore in Germany.

Therefore, this seems like a good time to express my gratitude for the ongoing high-quality output from you, Chris Goss, Andrew Arthy, Chandos Pubs, Wing Leader, Lela Presse, Jason Mark, and others. Keep up the great work!

Regards,
Leon Venter

[FalkeEins]

Thanks! Its people like Yannis that have/had the 'vision' and take the risk though. Michel at Lela. Rich at Chandos. Tomas at JaPo (thinking of their 500-page hardback "German Fighters.." that others declined). Just catching up with the sad news from Munich on FlugzeugForum.de. Things only heading one way at the moment. P27 of the AirDoc Verlag thread.
https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads....26557/page-27

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by FalkeEins

" .
We have little room for manoeuvre and the situation is complicated. It's too early to say whether Caraktère will be able to survive or not.."

well they seem to be producing new titles, but the latest update on their FB page does not make clear whether that will include all of their magazines or not..Aérojournal no. 104 was received here.

[Chris Goss]

Yann the editor has been in touch wanting more articles so all appears to be back on track?

[FalkeEins]

..yes, they have one of mine still outstanding. But from what I've read the 'judgement' of the 'conseil' restricts them to dealing in 'cash' only... so how would that work?

[Chris Goss]

Latest edition is out and Yann has told me "things are now on the right track"