Toulouse. “Copain des bois”, “Wakou”, “1 Jour 1 Actu”… The Milan editions are celebrating their 40th anniversary
By Toulouse editorial staff
Published on
“Toupie”, “Julie”, “1 Jour 1 Actu”, “Géo Ado”…who hasn’t read or subscribed to one of those magazines from Milan Presse during his childhood and adolescence?
The very beginning of the adventure in 1980
The editorial adventure was born in the fall of 1980 around Patrice Amen and ” Toboggan “, intended for 5-7 year olds and structured around stories, comics, games, DIY or cooking pages. The educational monthly, whose mission is to promote reading, quickly became popular with parents and teachers.
“Buddy of the woods”, the first bestseller
Two years later, the small Toulouse group launched into publishing, compiling stories published in “Mikado”, a now defunct tween title. Then published, in 1985, what will become his first bestseller: “Friend of the woods: the guide for little trappers”, by Renée Kayser. Positioned as a “nature publisher”, he launched in the mid-1980s “Elk” and “Wakō”.
After a comic interlude which saw two of his albums (“Soviet Zigzag” and “Zoulou blues”) awarded at the Angoulême festival, he set up a real “authors’ policy” with the Zanzibar collection and works by Philippe Delerm, Bernard Friot, Michel Piquemal or Gerard Moncomble.
An innovative publisher
In 1996, Milan opened a vast store in the city center, rue des Puits-Clos, dedicated to books, games and other creative hobbies (closed in 2017). Then, in 1998, he became the first youth press publisher to take an interest in digital, by launching “Mobiclic” and “Tobiclic”magazines on CD-ROM.
He broadens his palette by decoding current events with “The Keys to the News” than being on the market “Julia” (today one of its flagship titles, distributed in 30,000 copies) dedicated to schoolgirls.
Close to its audiences
Today, more than ever, the Toulouse publisher is close to its audiences, as Marie-Anne Denis, its general manager, points out.
“During the pandemic, we were able to continue printing and distributing our magazines to our readers. We have also put online for free on our game sites, fun activities and educational tools for teaching at a distance.
Audio developments, podcasts…
And the arrival of the internet has given rise to new uses and new ideas. Marie-Anne Denis continues: “Our monthly 45-minute “1jour1actu” webinars, which deal with subjects of moral and civic education such as harassment, racism, disability or the proper use of the Internet, contribute to the development of our brand. They bring together 1,000 classes, or nearly 30,000 students. Live, one of our journalists interviews an expert who answers the children’s questions. We are also continuing our audio developments, with new podcast proposals and the adaptation of “P’tits Docs” (a documentary series by Stéphanie Ledu) into stories to listen to. Finally, our animated series, “1jour1question”, co-produced with France Televisionswho answers a question in one and a half minutes, will celebrate his 1000e episode at the end of June 2022”.
Matthew Arnal
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