Where to put your book forward when you’re self-published

How to apply — write to the bookshop of your choice to suggest a meet-the-author event or a signing session, and look at the events calendar to get a feel for the pace and format.
The most accessible door in the département: the chain welcomes local authors all year round, not just the big names. The Hyères bookshop opened a café specially to host authors. It also owns La Soupe de l’espace, the children’s bookshop in Hyères (04 94 66 84 03). Other branches: Toulon, La Valette, Fréjus, Six-Fours.
librairiecharlemagne.com

How to apply — suggest your event to the library, and follow its events calendar.
It runs meet-and-sign events with the Charlemagne and La Soupe de l’espace bookshops. The library chooses: you have to put yourself forward. It also hosts exhibitions, concerts and writing workshops all year round. 110,000 items, free entry. Town hall switchboard: 04 94 00 78 78.
mediatheque.ville-hyeres.fr

How to apply — send your event to [email protected].
The town publishes the events it’s sent. Free. A reading, a talk, a signing: this is where it goes.
hyeres.fr

How to apply — no application. It’s the shared calendar of the region’s independent bookshops: you spot who hosts which kind of author, then write to the bookshop.
Use it to aim right before you write.
librairesdusud.com

How to apply — write to [email protected] before the last day of May, every year.
29th edition: 160 events, over 350 authors, 17 booksellers, around 40,000 visitors. Free entry, 10 am to 7 pm.
Fair: 20 to 22 November 2026
fetedulivreduvar.fr

How to apply — sign up on the Dates and Terms page, from 4 April to 30 June. 50 authors, including 4 national guests. The fair covers the guest authors’ expenses.
Genres accepted: inspiring books, feel-good, romance, self-help, fantasy, cosy mystery, children’s, comics, manga.
Fair: 16 and 17 January 2027
optimales.fr

How to apply — write to [email protected] or call 04 94 00 78 80. Deadline to be confirmed.
13th edition, expected at the end of May 2027 — the 12th was held on 30 and 31 May 2026. Over 150 authors, with the Charlemagne, Olbia and La Soupe de l’espace bookshops.
Fair: 29 and 30 May 2027
fetedulivre.hyeres.fr

How to apply — a venue (library, bookshop, youth centre) submits the project to the CNL, from October to January, and invites authors. Authors can’t sign up on their own.
⚠ A book festival FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, aged 0 to 18. A novel for adults has no place there.
partir-en-livre.fr

How to apply — authors are invited and hosted on the stands of the 5 partner bookshops: Furet du Nord, Belles Pages, Alpha B, Le Bateau Livre, Le Monde d’Uranie. Go through a bookshop or write to the fair.
27th edition on 28 and 29 March 2026, 3,000 m², free entry. One of the big literary events in the Hauts-de-France.
salondulivrebondues.fr

How to apply — authors are chosen by a literary agency and a committee, then hosted on the stands of local booksellers and publishers. Authors can’t sign up on their own: you have to go through a publisher or a bookshop at the fair.
42nd edition on 5, 6 and 7 June 2026, around 200 authors, 18,000 visitors, free entry. One of the 10 biggest book fairs in France.
lire.limoges.fr

How to apply — not open to self-published authors. Go as a visitor, free entry with proof that you’re an author: meet publishers, scout out imprints. Stands rented to publishing houses.
6th edition. 1,800 authors, 12 stages, 121,000 visitors in 2026.
Fair: 16 to 18 April 2027
www.festivaldulivredeparis.fr

How to apply — not open to self-published authors. Go as a visitor, listen to the panel discussions, spot which publishers are there. Authors are invited by their publishing house.
48th edition, every September. The first big event of the French literary season.
www.lelivresurlaplace.fr

How to apply — not open to self-published authors. Go as a visitor. Stands reserved for children’s publishers.
42nd edition, at the end of November. The big event for children’s books.
slpjplus.fr

How to apply — not open to self-published authors. Go as a visitor. The rules close the fair to self-publishing, as the organiser confirmed.
Every September.
www.livresdanslaboucle.fr

How to apply — no application. Just do it, and say so.
The 2nd Tuesday in March. Everyone stops and reads for a quarter of an hour, at work and at school alike.
centrenationaldulivre.fr

How to apply — write to the head of the translation master’s and offer the text as a study project.
Students supervised by lecturers, free, very good quality. A real project is welcome. A paid literary translation costs €8,000 to €12,000: that’s the obstacle this door gets round.
esit.univ-paris3.fr

How to apply — contact the academic office.
Same principle. English, German, Spanish, Italian.
isit-paris.fr

How to apply — aim for the master’s in literary translation.
THE benchmark for literary translation in the UK. Real credibility with English-speaking agents.
uea.ac.uk

How to apply — contact the translators, especially retired ones.
The French association of literary translators. Some will take on a project for a token fee.
atlf.org

How to apply — post an ad, saying the project is a labour of love and not commercial.
The French Society of Men and Women of Letters.
sgdl.org

How to apply — offer a real project to the teaching staff.
Students are looking for projects for their portfolio. In return: the illustrator gets a credit in the book.
ecole-estienne.paris

How to apply — get an ad passed round to the students.
A very high standard of drawing.
ecole-emilecohl.fr

How to apply — offer the project to the courses, or aim for the supervised projects at the IUT MMI.
Students need real projects for their degree: website, visual identity, community management.
hetic.net

How to apply — sign up on prixdesauteursinconnus.com. Submissions from 1 February to 31 March. Only for novels ALREADY PUBLISHED: self-published, author-funded, or with a micro-publisher.
The current round accepts novels published in the previous 2 years. A jury of bloggers, bookstagrammers and booktubers.
www.prixdesauteursinconnus.com

How to apply — submit the book via the submission form, before 1 July, every year. $79 entry fee. Read the rules first.
Grand prize $10,000, $1,000 per category, $23,500 in total. Only for self-published or hybrid-published books, with no limit on year of publication, 200,000 words maximum. Every entrant gets feedback from the judges.
⚠ An American competition with English-speaking judges: check with them before paying, for a novel in French.
winningwriters.com

How to apply — upload the complete manuscript, a 400-character pitch and a synopsis of 2,000 to 2,500 characters on the Édith & Nous platform. Read the rules first.
A novel in French, women’s fiction, contemporary or feel-good, from 350,000 to 650,000 characters. Self-publishing is accepted if sales stay modest; the text must never have been published by a publisher. The winner is published by Éditions Prisma. During the call, don’t send the same text to a publisher, an agent or a self-publishing platform.
femmeactuelle.fr

How to apply — the rules give the dates and the district to contact.
A first or second novel in French, already published, with no major prize. Open to authors “whether or not they are put forward by their publishing house”. The novel, the author or the publisher must come under the Lions district concerned. General fiction only.
www.lions-france.org

How to apply — pick an open competition on the prizes page and submit the text there. There are several a year, each with its own theme and date. Never an extract from the novel: their contract covers the text you send.
short-edition.com

① Editing the book comes before everything: nothing holds up if the text isn’t finished. ② Numbers before the press, the press before publishers. ③ Each contact is only approached once.
A publishing house, a journalist, a producer: you don’t get two first impressions, and you can’t rebuild them.
afnil.org — the ISBN first, free, nothing moves without it

Publish one chapter a week, with 4 weeks in hand: 4 edited chapters, their audio, their images, their game.
That’s what builds the audience, and everything else depends on it. Announce nothing until you have those 4 in hand.
lehamacetlescolibris.com

How to apply — create the book’s page as soon as an ISBN is assigned to a format, then invite every reader who liked it to leave a review there.
Masse Critique, which gives away a book in exchange for a review, is reserved for books from publishers: it stays closed to self-published authors. Authors never write on their own book’s page: Babelio removes those reviews.
babelio.com

Be there during the writing month: the ecrire-un-roman.com forum, Plume d’Argent, Wattpad, Facebook groups.
Tens of thousands of French speakers are looking AT THE SAME TIME for tools to get back to writing. Get the creative guides ready beforehand.
nanowrimo.org

Letter and documents, house by house, after the prize and the first numbers. Each house asks for different documents: check them one by one.
Michel Lafon first: it takes on self-published authors four times out of five.
michel-lafon.fr

How to apply — no application. In France, as soon as a text is written, it belongs to its author. There’s nothing to register to have rights.
So what’s the point of registering? Not to create the right: to PROVE THE DATE. If someone ever claimed to have written the text first, the date settles it. A registration protects the version registered, on that day: if the text changes a lot, you need to register again.
inpi.fr

How to apply — register online on the INPI website, in a few minutes. Kept for 5 years, renewable.
The simplest and cheapest proof in France. You upload the PDF of the manuscript, the INPI timestamps it to the second and keeps the file. It’s the document you bring out if there’s a dispute.
inpi.fr

How to apply — online application on copyright.gov, in English, with the book file.
Useful if the book may travel outside France, or in an international dispute. ⚠ The process is slow and the office may reject a file it can’t open: keep every email.
copyright.gov

How to apply — compulsory as soon as the book is published, self-published books included.
⚠ It is NOT protection: it’s an obligation to archive the national heritage. It doesn’t replace the e-Soleau, and it only happens at the time of publication.
bnf.fr

How to apply — the SGDL for copyright in France, SafeCreative for an international timestamp, UK Copyright Service for the United Kingdom, the SACD if the text is adapted for the stage.
Useful depending on the project, never all needed at once. A single dated registration is enough to prove you came first.
sgdl.org

How to apply — the manuscript, a 1- to 2-page synopsis, the cover letter, a 5- to 6-line pitch, a short biography, full contact details.
⚠ Almost everywhere, but not quite: each house has its own requirements, to be checked one by one on its website. Three houses require the synopsis to give away THE ENDING. The cover letter is the most-read document — Grasset says it is “very important”.
sgdl.org

How to apply — put it together before any submission. A publisher knows in 5 seconds whether a manuscript fits what they publish: the note has to say so straight away.
Seven points: the structure, the tone, 3 main themes and no more, the characters, the target readership, where the book is shelved (category, genre, style, CLIL, BISAC), and the author — what she’s done before, and whether she’s been published. This note isn’t just for publishers: it’s also the website’s presentation page, the foundation of the back cover and the press kit.
sgdl.org

How to apply — send nothing without a separate read-through: the name of the house IN THE BODY of the text and not just in the heading, the documents required by THAT particular house, and the date.
A rival house’s name left in a letter means an instant rejection. And you only approach a house once: you don’t get two first impressions.
sgdl.org

How to apply — Le Tripode: [email protected] · Les Escales: [email protected] · Charleston: [email protected] · Anne Carrière: [email protected] · Cambourakis: [email protected] · Finitude: [email protected]
The easiest to approach: they read a 2-page synopsis and the opening. If they like it, they ask for the rest. Small, responsive houses that love strong voices and original forms.
le-tripode.net

How to apply — Gallimard: depot-manuscrits.gallimard.fr · Flammarion: editions-flammarion.com/envoyer-un-manuscrit · Robert Laffont and NiL: robert-laffont-manuscrits.lisez.com · XO: manuscrits.xoeditions.com · Julliard: julliard-manuscrits.lisez.com · Le Cherche Midi: cherche-midi-manuscrits.lisez.com · Belfond, Presses de la Cité, Récamier: comitedelecture.com · Fleuve: manuscrits.fleuveeditions.com · First: manuscritsfirst.lisez.com
Submitting takes 10 minutes and the acknowledgement is automatic. It’s the simplest way, and the least personal.
gallimard.fr

How to apply — Michel Lafon: [email protected] · Denoël: [email protected] · Fayard: [email protected] · Hachette Romans: [email protected] · L’Archipel and Presses du Châtelet: [email protected] · Héloïse d’Ormesson: [email protected] · Le Bruit du Monde: [email protected] · Bouquins: [email protected]
⚠ L’Archipel and Presses du Châtelet require 120 pages minimum and turn down short stories, fantasy, science fiction, children’s, poetry and drama. La Découverte also requires a detailed outline and a CV.
michel-lafon.fr

How to apply — Grasset, 61 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris · Albin Michel, 22 rue Huyghens, 75014 Paris (100 to 400 pages, single-sided, name and address ON the manuscript) · Seuil, 57 rue Gaston-Tessier, CS 50061, 75166 Paris Cedex 19 · Plon, 92 avenue de France, 75013 Paris · Verdier, Le Rieu Sec, 12800 Naucelle · J’ai Lu, 87 quai Panhard et Levassor, 75647 Paris Cedex 13 · JC Lattès, 17 rue Jacob, 75006 Paris (bound, A4).
Allow €15 to €30 for printing and postage per house. At Grasset, the cover letter is “very important”, and the synopsis must give away the ending.
grasset.fr

How to apply — don’t chase before the stated time. XO and Hachette Romans: about 1 month. Albin Michel: 1 to 3 months. Grasset, Seuil, Stock, JC Lattès, Michel Lafon: 3 to 6 months. Denoël, Flammarion, Fayard, Robert Laffont: 4 to 8 months.
You only approach a house once. And no answer by the end of the stated time means no, at almost all of them.
michel-lafon.fr

How to apply — no application. 10/18 · Pocket · Sonatine · Super 8 · Seghers · Kurokawa · Lizzie · Lonely Planet.
Most of them are paperback or reissue houses: they buy titles already published elsewhere, they don’t discover authors.
pocket.fr

How to apply — complete manuscript as a PDF or Word file to [email protected]. Email subject: author’s name + title of the manuscript. No paper.
⛔ Turns down poetry, drama, children’s, memoir, pamphlets, crime, thrillers. Publishes little and asks you to look at the catalogue before sending. No answer after 3 months: it’s a no.
zulma.fr

How to apply — PDF to [email protected], with a short presentation, a statement of intent, a synopsis and a note about the author. No paper.
⚠ It generally rules out very experimental projects AND autofiction. Looks for writing that is “lively, curious, open to the world”, not formulaic.
lianalevi.fr

How to apply — French fiction to [email protected].
Publishes around ten French fiction titles a year.
harpercollins.fr

How to apply — Word or PDF attachment to [email protected]. No paper submissions.
Answer within 3 months where possible. Éditions Kero, part of the house, was founded around the relationship between author and reader across several media.
calmann-levy.fr

How to apply — online submission for fiction, via their form. No more email.
No answer after 3 months: it’s a no.
editions-stock.fr

How to apply — paper only, complete manuscript, one project at a time. Include name, postal address, email address and phone number.
⛔ No extracts on their own, no poetry.
actes-sud.fr

How to apply — paper preferred, but PDF accepted if posting is difficult, to [email protected].
⚠ Digital submissions don’t always get an answer. About 3 months.
pol-editeur.com

How to apply — paper only, typed manuscript, bound, A4. No email, no electronic media.
Answer expected in around 3 months. To get the manuscript back if it’s rejected, include what they ask for.
grasset.fr

How to apply — paper only for novels. Between 100 and 400 pages, single-sided, name and address ON the manuscript.
Answer expected within 1 to 3 months.
albin-michel.fr

How to apply — paper, typed, single-sided, preferably bound.
Answer expected within about 2 months. A dozen titles a year, a list closely tied to the team’s own tastes.
ledilettante.com

How to apply — you almost never contact a publisher directly: the agent does that. And almost all of them ask for AT LEAST a synopsis and 3 chapters IN ENGLISH.
That’s why translation is the first step. See the section “Getting translated without paying” above: translation schools, ATLF, SGDL.
madeleinemilburn.co.uk

How to apply — Anna Jarota Agency: [email protected] · Curtis Brown, Roxane Édouard: [email protected], writing “French author” in the subject line · Portobello Literary, Margaux Vialleron: [email protected] · Kate Nash, Saskia Leach: [email protected], explicitly ask for co-representation with a French agent.
These are people, not departments. A letter addressed to a specific agent stands ten times more chance than one sent to a general address.
anna-jarota.com

How to apply — Madeleine Milburn: compulsory form on their website, letter + 1-page synopsis + 3 chapters, 10,000 words maximum · David Higham: [email protected] · Andrew Nurnberg: [email protected], letter addressed to a specific agent · Blake Friedmann, James Pusey: [email protected]
They also sell screen rights. They all want the same thing: a letter, a one-page synopsis, the first 3 chapters in flawless English.
madeleinemilburn.co.uk

How to apply — Casarotto Ramsay: [email protected] · 42MP: [email protected], both an agency AND a production company, which is rare.
Casarotto is the agency of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who wrote Fleabag, and of Sally Rooney. They take on hybrid authors, novel and screen.
casarotto.co.uk

How to apply — Linwood Messina: linwoodmessina.com · Agence Schweiger: schweiger.fr · La Nouvelle Agence · Leor Literary: leor-agency.com · L’Autre Agence, a sub-agent selling foreign rights through US and UK networks.
They represent French authors and work with co-agents around the world. Going through them saves you having to write in English.
linwoodmessina.com

How to apply — Peirene Press: peirenepress.com · Pushkin Press: [email protected] · Tilted Axis: [email protected] · Arcadia Books: [email protected] · Glagoslav: glagoslav.com · Alma Books: almabooks.com
★ This is the door that gets round the translation obstacle: these houses publish only translated literature and PAY FOR THE TRANSLATION. Few titles a year, very selective.
peirenepress.com

How to apply — Serpent’s Tail: [email protected] · Granta Books: [email protected] · And Other Stories: [email protected] · Canongate: [email protected] · Salt Publishing, Comma Press, Galley Beggar, Fledgling Press: form on their website.
Canongate publishes hybrid, female-led, modern novels: it’s the best fit on the list.
canongate.co.uk

How to apply — Graywolf Press: [email protected] · Coffee House Press: [email protected] · Tin House: [email protected] · Soft Skull: [email protected] · Deep Vellum: deepvellum.org · House of Anansi: [email protected] · Coach House: [email protected]
★ Canada is bilingual and acts as a bridge to the United States: House of Anansi and Coach House publish translations and work on exports.
houseofanansi.com

How to apply — no direct submissions. Penguin Random House UK and USA, Hachette UK, Hachette Book Group, Hachette Canada. Bloomsbury and Faber accept them, but much prefer an agent.
You have to go through a literary agent. See the previous section.
penguin.co.uk

How to apply — the complete novel as a PDF, a 2-page screen statement of intent, a 5-page screen-format synopsis in 3 acts, and a 3-page character bible. Never the manuscript on its own.
⚠ A producer takes an option on a story THAT ALREADY HAS AN AUDIENCE. Without an audience, the pack doesn’t get read.
telefilm.ca

How to apply — Récifilms, specialising in literary adaptations: [email protected] · Curiosa Films, intimate stories: [email protected] · Trésor Films, mainstream comedies: [email protected] · Fidélité Films, Canal+ series: [email protected] · Haut et Court: [email protected] · MakingProd: [email protected]
Budgets range from €1m to €15m depending on the company. Récifilms and Curiosa are the 2 closest fits for an intimate, funny novel.
recifilms.com

How to apply — Canal+ Création Originale: [email protected] · Arte France: [email protected] · France Télévisions: [email protected]
They’re the ones who fund series. Budgets of €8m to €20m at Canal+.
canalplus.com

How to apply — no direct submissions. See-Saw Films, Working Title, BBC Studios: you need an agent. Clerkenwell Films ([email protected]) and Drama Republic ([email protected]) accept an adaptation pack, never the manuscript.
Clerkenwell does drama and dark comedy: exactly the register of a novel that mixes humour and gravity.
clerkenwellfilms.com

How to apply — Telefilm Canada, in English or French: letter, synopsis and adaptation project.
Financial support for production, open to French-language projects.
telefilm.ca

How to apply — opening the account is free, no sign-up fee. You need bank details and a tax number.
It’s the marketplace: it brings the passing trade a website alone doesn’t have. ⚠ Amazon takes about 30% on the e-book.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — plug a payment system into your own pages. The commission drops to about 3%.
On a €7 e-book, a direct sale leaves about €6.40, against €4.64 through Amazon. The 2 channels coexist: Amazon gets you discovered, the website gets you paid.
stripe.com

How to apply — it’s what decides the purchase on Amazon, and it also serves as the KDP description, the press summary and the presentation on the website.
One single text, reused 5 times. It’s the best effort-to-result ratio in the whole project.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — on KDP, you choose 7 keywords and 2 categories. They’re what decide who comes across the book.
Far more decisive than the price. A book ranked well in a small category gets seen; the same book in a giant category disappears.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — test it shrunk down, on a phone. If the title can’t be read at 2 cm, it needs redoing.
Buyers never see the cover full size: they see a thumbnail in a list.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — start the list before the launch, not after.
Social networks can close an account or hide your posts. A mailing list can’t: it’s yours.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — register the edited text again before putting it on sale.
The previous registration protects the version registered on that day. A heavily rewritten book deserves its own timestamp.
inpi.fr

How to apply — set the e-book price BETWEEN €2.99 and €9.99: that’s the 70% royalty band. Outside it, the rate drops to 35%.
At €2.99 you’re left with about €1.79 per sale; at €4.99, about €3.32. Below €2.99 you lose on the price AND on the rate. For the paperback: 60% of the price minus printing. And €4.99 sells better than €5.00 or €5.99.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — never touch it as long as you want to be able to sell your rights to a publisher.
Signing up commits you to 90 days’ exclusivity. During that time, the book can’t be sold anywhere else, or its rights sold.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — you give the book away, the reviewer commits to writing an honest review within about 30 days. No payment, nothing required in return.
It’s the press service of an author without a publisher. It worked for 2 of the 5 self-published women authors who went on to be published.
babelio.com

How to apply — create your author page and your book page on Babelio, then enter the book for Masse Critique. ★ Literature rounds in JANUARY and SEPTEMBER.
⚠ Strict charter: aggressive promotion is banned. You chat with readers, you don’t sell.
babelio.com

How to apply — sign up, and authors and reviewers are put in direct contact.
The best starting point for a first try, without paying a penny.
auteurs-chroniqueurs.fr

How to apply — you upload the book, reviewers request it. ⚠ Compare the 2 before paying anything.
NetGalley charges directly; Librinova resells it as a service.
netgalley.fr

How to apply — create the book’s page there. A blogger who publishes on their own site then shares it here.
That’s what multiplies the reach of a single review.
livraddict.com

How to apply — one message per person, never a group mailing. Read 2 of their reviews before writing, and tell them so.
A list of 20 accounts that accept self-published books exists, kept by BoD. ⚠ Check the account is still active before writing.
bod.fr

How to apply — 3 adjectives that set out the character, then a correction between dashes that sharpens them further.
It’s the most profitable text in the project: it decides the purchase, and it gets reused as the Amazon description, the press summary and the website presentation.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — “Her only hobby?” “Her greatest pleasure?”, each followed by a funny, CONCRETE answer.
Visual details, never adjectives.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — the event that makes her lose everything.
A single sentence.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — what’s going to save her. Stop there.
⛔ No spoilers. You never tell the ending.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — it’s no longer about the story but about the EFFECT: funny, refreshing, good for morale.
The tone, in 6 markers: spoken, vivid vocabulary, never literary · short questions with a punchline · ultra-concrete details rather than adjectives · lists of 3 · self-deprecation · rhythm.
kdp.amazon.fr

How to apply — write to the host, in one page: who you are, what you’ve been through, what you’re offering to talk about. No sales figures asked for, no book required.
★ It’s the only door open BEFORE you have an audience: they’re looking for a guest every week, it’s audio, and none of their guests has written a book.
Le Café des Burnies — Sarra, nurse and coach, women in burnout, personal stories every week · En Route Simone — career change and a career that fits · J’peux pas, j’ai burn-out — women’s stories, one per episode · Les Survivants du Burn-out · OTAF Meuf — career change and women in business · Retrouve ton pep’s · Les Lueurs — Jonathan Langlois, every Sunday · Oser la Reconversion
podcast.ausha.co

How to apply — offer to take part, with a one-page pitch.
Bookmakers, ARTE Radio — Richard Gaitet, in partnership with Babelio: 3 to 4 hours of conversation per author about how a book is made, not promotion. ⚠ Hosts established authors.
arteradio.com

How to apply — no application. All these podcasts are free and can be played in any app, or straight in the browser from their page.
To spot the ones that host guests: listen to 2 episodes. If the host interviews someone else each time, they’re looking for guests. If they talk alone, they don’t take any.
ausha.co

How to apply — in this order: 1. Aude Bouquine · 2. A Fleur De Mots · 3. La Forêt du Livre
Found by starting from comparable authors: Grimaldi, Valognes, Martin-Lugand. Aude Bouquine reviews Grimaldi in depth and writes that she “disarms with laughter”. A Fleur De Mots reads contemporary novels and women’s stories. La Forêt du Livre writes “like a conversation”.
aude-bouquine.com

How to apply — @tourneuse_de_pages · @alex_bouquineuse · @the.bookin.girl · @bookasteria_ · @liseusecompulsive · @teach_and_read · @malakg_1 · @entre_les_lignes_de_lucie · @coconlitteraire · @carnet_litteraire · @la_femme_affamee_de_lectures · @binou0_bouquine · @book_by_tom_
⚠ List from April 2024: check the account is still active before writing. That’s what sets them apart: they accept self-published books, which many refuse.
bod.fr

How to apply — @la_fille_du_booktok · @spacenaox · @bookslovej · @mysecretspace__ · @stella.et.ses.livres · @marine_books · @mollyandherbooks
⚠ Same list, same caution. BookTok is the channel where sales climb fastest today.
bod.fr

How to apply — no application. Type in an author’s name, and the site lists every review published about them.
★ Use it to find WHO has reviewed a novel close to yours, before writing to anyone. A literary watch kept since 2015.
bibliosurf.com

How to apply — 1. Choose 3 novels close to yours, same readership and same tone. 2. Search Google: the title + “review”. The bloggers who wrote about it come up. 3. On Babelio and Amazon, open those novels’ pages and read the longest, best-written reviews. 4. On Instagram and TikTok, search the novel’s title as a keyword: the accounts that featured it pop up straight away. 5. Note down the name, the link, the date you made contact and the reply.
It’s the most useful method in the whole guide: it works for any book, and it needs no prior knowledge of social media.
babelio.com

How to apply — ONLY contact those who already read your genre. The test: open the account, look at its last 9 posts. If 3 titles out of 9 could sit next to yours on a bookshop shelf, it’s a good account. If not, move on.
★ SIZE ISN’T THE CRITERION: an account with 3,000 followers that reads exactly your genre is worth more than an account with 100,000 that reads something else. Small accounts reply, actually read and review; the big ones are swamped by publishing houses.
⛔ Writing to someone who doesn’t read your genre gets you nowhere, and it shows straight away.
babelio.com

How to apply — no application. It’s the word you use to find them.
Bookstagram: book reviewers on Instagram, known as bookstagrammers. BookTube: the same on YouTube. BookTok: on TikTok, where sales take off fastest. Book bloggers: the ones who run a website. They pass things on to each other: a review published somewhere gets shared again on Babelio, Livraddict and Goodreads.
instagram.com

How to apply — a private, personalised message, never a group one. Read 2 of their reviews before writing and tell them so.
@mademoisellelit — Maïté, over 77,000 followers, contemporary fiction, she’s made it her job. Agathe Ruga — founder of the Grand Prix des Blogueurs Littéraires, a sharp eye and an engaged community. @lesouffledesmots — Audrey, contemporary and children’s. @tarteauxlettres — books and film. @anais_bots — the classics. Le Livreur de Mots, François Coune — Brussels, he has interviewed Amélie Nothomb.
instagram.com/mademoisellelit

How to apply — offer to take part as a guest, with a one-page pitch.
Bookmakers, ARTE Radio — Richard Gaitet, in partnership with Babelio: 3 to 4 hours of conversation per author about how the book was made. ⚠ Hosts established authors.
arteradio.com

How to apply — no application. Babelio brings together 200 literary programmes and 20,000 episodes, plus the France Culture podcasts, sorted by author.
Use it to spot who hosts which kind of author before writing, instead of sending at random.
babelio.com

How to apply — 1. her first name. 2. the 2 reviews you’ve read on her account, named. 3. one sentence saying why this book is for her, not for everyone. 4. the offer: a free copy, no obligation to review, no deadline imposed.
⛔ Never a group mailing: a copy-and-paste message is spotted in 3 seconds. ⛔ Never “my book is unique”. The mechanism is called a review copy: a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
babelio.com

How to apply — start with the funding page: there’s support for authors, translators, illustrators, publishers, booksellers and event organisers.
It organises the Nuits de la lecture, Partir en Livre and the Quart d’heure de lecture national, and gets companies to sign the charter for books in the workplace. Everything that happens around books in France goes through it.
centrenationaldulivre.fr

How to apply — when a fair or festival invites you, ask whether it’s backed by the CNL. If so, the author MUST be paid for taking part.
It’s a CNL rule, not a favour. Many authors don’t know it and turn up for free at events that have received money to pay them.
centrenationaldulivre.fr

How to apply — offer to lead the quarter of an hour in a company, a public office, a community centre, a care home. The CNL provides the tools and puts books up as prizes.
Everyone stops for 15 minutes to read, on the same day. It’s a ready-made excuse to walk into a company with your book.
centrenationaldulivre.fr

How to apply — a PDF file of 20 pages maximum, uploaded on the SCAM website: letter to the jury, statement of intent, extract, progress report, planned use of the grant.
Open to authors who are members or NON-members of the SCAM: it’s the only big grant that doesn’t ask for a publisher. ⚠ Two conditions: the project must not be finished or being finalised, and it must touch on the world of literature, publishing, photography, film, radio, TV or new media.
scam.fr

How to apply — no application, if you’re self-published.
⛔ CNL and SGDL grants require one or more books published TRADITIONALLY, at the publisher’s expense, and the funded project must also be published that way. Self-publishing is excluded, it’s written in the rules. Keep it for the day a house signs you.
centrenationaldulivre.fr

How to apply — Télérama, book desk: [email protected].
It’s a direct desk address, not a switchboard. A short press release, the cover, the back cover, the author. Nothing more. For magazines: Elle, Marie Claire, Version Femina, which look for women’s life stories, and Psychologies, which features inspiring people.
telerama.fr

How to apply — find a company that has signed the CNL’s Charter for books and reading in the workplace, and write to the works council or the culture department: they’re looking for authors to host.
Air France, APEC, Make.org and UEM have signed it. The CNL puts these companies in touch with authors: [email protected]. A 1½-hour lunchtime talk pays the author €286.76 gross. Book clubs, book boxes, meet-the-author events: it’s there in black and white in the charter.
CNL — the “Lire en entreprise” guide (in French)

How to apply — nothing until you have a publication date and an ISBN. Each contact is only approached once: you don’t get two first impressions.
As one journalist puts it: no big press pack. A short press release, one sentence saying why this book, why her. And the regional press first, the national press after.
afnil.org — apply for your ISBN, free

How to apply — La Grande Librairie, France 5: [email protected]. Quotidien, TMC: [email protected]. France 3 Régions for local authors.
France 3 Régions is the only realistic door without a publisher: it runs reports on authors from its area.
france.tv

How to apply — France Bleu works through its local stations: it’s the most open door.
radiofrance.fr

How to apply — offer to take part as a guest. They need guests every week, it’s audio, and nobody asks for sales figures.
The 5 to aim for first, checked on 23/09/2026: Les Survivants du Burn-out · En route Simone · J’peux pas, j’ai burn-out · OTAF Meuf · Les Lueurs. One single angle: creating after burnout.
Then: Bookmakers, ARTE Radio, where Richard Gaitet gets authors to tell how a book was made, not promotion (⚠ he hosts established authors). And Transfert, Slate, for life stories.
arteradio.com

How to apply — one message per person, never a group mailing. Read 2 of her reviews before writing, and tell her so.
It’s the press service of an author without a publisher: the book as a file, the back cover, and one sentence saying why her.
In this order: Aude Bouquine · Happy Curieuse · A Fleur De Mots · La Forêt du Livre · Les chapitres de Sonia.
Babelio — Masse Critique, to get the book read in exchange for a review

How to apply — Audible France accepts self-published books: [email protected]. Audiolib: [email protected].
The audio version sells separately and reaches people who no longer open a paper book.
audible.fr