How do you see the literary year 2025?
“I see it in my image, very exciting. Rich in discoveries, travel, culture, knowledge, etc. Rich, quite simply. I have positivity in my soul and, for me, this is not a year that will determine whether it will go well or not. I am convinced that life is worth it In terms of books or advice, whatever the year, I would first advise people to go for a book that. gives them emotions. When I read, I first let myself be surprised, and if I feel emotions, whether I like it or not, it’s because I’m experiencing something with this book. ‘is positive.”
François Coune, Belgian literary influencer, publishes his first book: “I am delighted to shake up the codes of culture and literature a little”
Was there a before and after your first prize at Creator’s Night?
“Jill Vandermeulen, winner of two prizes, told me: ‘it’s still fabulous that the books are rewarded as best hope’. And, looking back, I say to myself: she is right. We can’t imagine at all books on social networks and then I’ve been doing this for six years. It’s almost four years since it’s my full-time job and receiving this prize from NRJ was giving additional legitimacy to my job. . Thanks to this price, I admit that I was able to increase some of my prices for collaborations and… that I have a little less space at home in my library (smile) !”
“I am hopeful that young people will turn more and more to books”
Is the reading of yesteryear lost and recovered today on social networks?
“I have the impression that, precisely, thanks to this new generation of people who have been talking about books on the networks for several years, and there continue to be new ones, I have good hope of telling myself that the young people are also turning more and more to books. I’m not going to say that there are more and more readers but, in any case, we continue to read and that’s not bad! don’t stop in any case. I see it with the hundreds of young people who come see me at trade shows Today, there is a whole phenomenon with booktalks, books on Tiktok or Instagram etc., it’s still crazy I have the impression that we are a link! more in the book chain. I always describe the book as the most beautiful object in the world. Alongside booksellers, publishers, distributors and journalists, we are all together to talk about the most beautiful object in the world. At the beginning, there had, for example, a little competition between content creators and the press. But, over time, we became allies and said to ourselves that we weren’t taking anyone’s place.”
-You won’t eitherread to replace the booksellers ?
“On the contrary, I have the impression that we help them choose the books that they will highlight in bookstores. Very often, booksellers tell me: ‘Thank you for your Instagram account because, thanks to you, I’m putting this or that book forward, I’ve been working a lot with Club for 3 years, for example in Belgium, and they’re super happy because we’re all together for the book and it’s so cool!”
And in the end, wouldn’t this notebook be an extension of you?
“Yes and no because it’s an object that people can appropriate 100%. My name is no longer anywhere, except on the edge so that people can fully appropriate the object and that , I absolutely wanted it. Previously, I had released a book where I was on the cover and here it was no longer the idea. Here, I was able to choose everything from A to Z, which is when. even rare: the cover, the title, the layout inside which is hyper solar, pop, colorful and vintage.”
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An influencer without taboos: “I open my mouth about the excesses of influence and it’s disturbing”
François Coune, who is about to publish a short story in a collection (a sort of autofiction on the world of influence), is also a committed influencer in spite of himself. “I don’t do it consciously, it’s part of me, he assures. As soon as I have something to say, whether in relation to LGBTQIA+, abuses in the world of influence, I open my mouth, and it’s disturbing. I’m a bit without taboos. And I think that’s also why people like me. I am not just an avatar who talks about books but a real person with values, beliefs and principles.”
And delivery of words delivers and thus frees a word on subjects that are sometimes still taboo. “Jexperienced a fairly strong wave of homophobia, he concludes. You should know that every time I post a photo with my partner, I lose 300 subscribers and I get waves of hatred. But it doesn’t matter, they’re not the ones who are going to win.”
