Éditions Odile Jacob
Éditions Odile Jacob is a privately held French publishing house founded in 1986 in Paris, publishing academic, scientific, and humanities books by distinguished authors, sold worldwide directly via its e-commerce site in print and ebook formats, with additional foreign rights and licensing revenue.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Éditions Odile Jacob does
Éditions Odile Jacob is a privately held French publishing house founded in 1986 and headquartered at 3 rue Auguste-Comte in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, operating as an SAS with registered capital of €392,352 and RCS Paris B 333 520 575. The company publishes books across academic and scientific disciplines (neuroscience, economics, genetics, biology, philosophy, political science, history, geopolitics, geostrategy) and general-interest humanities, with an author roster that includes Nobel laureate Serge Haroche, former IMF Managing Director Jacques de Larosière, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, and Collège de France professor Jean-Pierre Changeux. Its catalog is organized into more than twenty themed series (e.g., 'Travaux du Collège de France', 'Le Temps des savoirs', 'Poches Odile Jacob', 'Santé au quotidien') and distributed under the 'Odile Jacob' and 'Odile Jacob International' trade names.
The technology stack centers on a D2C e-commerce platform (odilejacob.com for international/EN and odilejacob.fr for France), hosted in France by Idianet, with Stripe processing payments under PCI DSS, and Adobe Acrobat Reader / Adobe Digital Editions as the supported ebook reading clients for PDF and EPUB formats respectively. Ebook files include a proprietary 'Social Marking' DRM layer that embeds the buyer's name and email on each page. Marketing and audience analytics are run through Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta Pixel, with GDPR and French Data Protection Act compliance as the regulatory baseline.
Revenue is generated through four channels: (1) one-time physical book sales shipped worldwide from the website, typically priced €13.99–€44.90 per title under a 5.5% French VAT regime, with a €200-per-transaction and 5-orders-per-7-days ceiling; (2) one-time ebook sales in PDF and EPUB, delivered as immediate downloads; (3) recurring licensing royalties from translation, film, TV, and dramatic rights granted to foreign publishers; and (4) permissions and reprint rights fees. Bulk orders of 10+ items are diverted to a dedicated sales department ([email protected]) for negotiated quotes, indicating a parallel B2B pipeline. Author acquisition is handled through a manuscript department; reader retention is supported by an 'Odile Jacob Club' community offering previews and exclusive content.
Éditions Odile Jacob firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Éditions Odile Jacob
- Legal name
- EDITIONS ODILE JACOB SAS
- Website
- https://odilejacob.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Éditions Odile Jacob is a privately held French publishing house founded in 1986 in Paris, publishing academic, scientific, and humanities books by distinguished authors, sold worldwide directly via its e-commerce site in print and ebook formats, with additional foreign rights and licensing revenue.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Éditions Odile Jacob industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Academic Book Publishing
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (51313)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Education Research & Pedagogy Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Business, Economics & Management Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAF)
Keywords
Where Éditions Odile Jacob is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Éditions Odile Jacob business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Physical Book Sales: Sale of printed books delivered directly to customer homes. Customers can purchase paperbacks through the website with shipping worldwide.
- Ebook Sales: Digital books (ebooks) available in PDF and EPUB formats for download after purchase. Files can be downloaded from My Account section and re-downloaded at any time if lost.
- Foreign Rights Licensing: Translation rights for books, as well as film, TV, and dramatic rights queries are handled through the Rights Department.
- Permissions and Reprint Rights: Permissions to use excerpts from books or license pictures from covers, handled through the Rights Department ([email protected]).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Physical books (paperback) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Ebooks (PDF and EPUB) |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Bulk orders (10+ items) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Éditions Odile Jacob product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Éditions Odile Jacob publishes and sells academic and scientific books in both print paperback and ebook (PDF and EPUB) formats, distributed directly through its e-commerce website odilejacob.com with worldwide shipping. The catalog spans humanities, sciences, economics, politics, neuroscience, biology, philosophy, history, and biography, featuring works by Nobel laureates, Collège de France professors, and senior public figures. The publisher also licenses foreign translation rights, film/TV/dramatic rights, and permissions for excerpts through its Rights Department.
Product overview
Éditions Odile Jacob operates as a French academic and scientific publishing house offering a dual-format product portfolio: physical print books delivered via postal services and digital ebooks available for immediate download in PDF and EPUB formats. The company organizes its catalog into themed book series collections (such as 'Poches Odile Jacob', 'Santé au quotidien', and 'Travaux du Collège de France') and provides supplementary PDF catalogs for browsing. The ebooks feature built-in navigation capabilities (hypertext, search, annotations) and social marking DRM protection. The product offering is distributed through the company's ecommerce website with Stripe payment processing.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Print Books (paperback) Physical paperback books covering academic and scientific subjects (humanities, sciences, economics, politics, neuroscience, biology, philosophy, history, biography) delivered to customers worldwide. Priced per unit between €13.99 and €44.90.
- Ebooks (PDF and EPUB) Digital books available in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) and EPUB formats for download after purchase, featuring social-marking digital watermarking and re-download capability from the customer account.
- Foreign Rights Licensing Licensing of translation, film, TV, and dramatic rights for books in the Éditions Odile Jacob catalog, offered to international publishers and media producers through the Rights Department.
- Permissions and Reprint Rights Licensing of permissions to use book excerpts or cover images, handled by the Rights Department via [email protected].
Companies that use Éditions Odile Jacob
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Éditions Odile Jacob technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Feature1 record
Éditions Odile Jacob partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- StripecoreStripe is the payment service provider for processing all credit card transactions on odilejacob.com. Payment is processed at the time of order placement. Stripe is certified under the international PCI DSS standard and acts as a data processor under GDPR.
- IdianetcoreIdianet is the hosting company for the website, located at 37 rue Truffaut 75017 Paris. They also handled the graphic design and development of the website. Data is hosted in France by Idianet.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Éditions Odile Jacob competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Princeton University Press: Major English-language academic publisher with strong economics, political science, and science catalogs — comparable scholarly positioning and Nobel-laureate author profile across adjacent disciplines.
- Gallimard: Largest French literary publisher with broad non-fiction and academic-adjacent imprints (NRF, Bibliothèque des Sciences humaines). Comparable in content breadth but operates as a broad incumbent across many categories rather than a scholarly specialist.
- Cambridge University Press: Global academic publisher with deep scholarly catalog in sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Comparable in subject breadth and Nobel-affiliated author profile, though significantly larger and English-language focused.
- Oxford University Press: Largest global university press with deep academic catalog across sciences, social sciences, and humanities — comparable scholarly positioning and global distribution model, though English-language and significantly broader scale.
Direct peers
- Albin Michel: One of France's largest independent publishers with significant essays, non-fiction, and academic-adjacent humanities titles — comparable subject breadth and French general educated readership.
- Actes Sud: Independent French publisher with strength in humanities, social sciences, and environmental science — comparable independent positioning and scholarly-leaning catalog to Odile Jacob.
- Éditions Flammarion: French general-interest publisher spanning literature and non-fiction (and parent of Fayard). Publishes humanities and science-adjacent non-fiction comparable in scope to Odile Jacob's catalog.
- Fayard: Major French non-fiction and academic publisher (part of the Madrigall/Place Poligraf group), publishing in history, politics, social sciences, and humanities — directly comparable subject mix and senior-author target profile to Éditions Odile Jacob.
- Presses Universitaires de France (PUF): Leading French academic publisher with deep catalog in philosophy, social sciences, and humanities — directly comparable academic positioning and Collège de France-adjacent author base.
- Éditions du Seuil: French literary and academic publisher with a strong social science, philosophy, and science-humanities catalog. Closely matches Odile Jacob's scholarly positioning and French trade publishing model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Éditions Odile Jacob social profiles
Digital presenceÉditions Odile Jacob compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Éditions Odile Jacob financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Éditions Odile Jacob leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Éditions Odile Jacob funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Éditions Odile Jacob M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Éditions Odile Jacob
What does Éditions Odile Jacob do?
Éditions Odile Jacob publishes and sells academic and scientific books in both print paperback and ebook (PDF and EPUB) formats, distributed directly through its e-commerce website odilejacob.com with worldwide shipping. The catalog spans humanities, sciences, economics, politics, neuroscience, biology, philosophy, history, and biography, featuring works by Nobel laureates, Collège de France professors, and senior public figures. The publisher also licenses foreign translation rights, film/TV/dramatic rights, and permissions for excerpts through its Rights Department.
Is Éditions Odile Jacob a public or private company?
Éditions Odile Jacob is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Éditions Odile Jacob founded?
Éditions Odile Jacob was founded in 1986. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Éditions Odile Jacob based?
Éditions Odile Jacob is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Éditions Odile Jacob make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Physical Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are ebook Sales, foreign Rights Licensing and permissions and Reprint Rights.
Who are Éditions Odile Jacob's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Princeton University Press, Gallimard, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. Direct peers are Albin Michel, Actes Sud, Éditions Flammarion, Fayard, Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) and Éditions du Seuil.
Does Éditions Odile Jacob have an API?
No public API is recorded for Éditions Odile Jacob.
What industry is Éditions Odile Jacob in?
Éditions Odile Jacob's product category is Academic Book Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAGAFAH, Education Research & Pedagogy Scholarly Publishing, with a secondary code of EDAGAFAF, Business, Economics & Management Scholarly Publishing. Its NAICS code is 51313 and its SIC code is 2731.